Advisor to PM on Commerce, Textile, Industry and Production Razzaq Dawood hit the nail on the head the other day when he said that trade with India was beneficial for both countries. This is not a new idea, of course, and over the years there have been numerous calls for binding the two bickering states together through long-term trade pacts and mutually beneficial investment deals. This is how warring European countries overcame centuries of hostilities and finally buried the hatchet after the Second World War. And the result is the European Union with its own trade policy, central bank, single currency, etc.
It’s a shame that in the seven decades that this approach has been adopted in different parts of the world, it was never embraced in the subcontinent. Islamabad must still be given credit for trying to get the ball rolling every now and then, but successive governments in Delhi have always preferred to use the anti-Pakistan card for electoral and political gains instead; a policy choice that seems to have gone into an irreversible high-gear since the Modi administration came to power about eight years ago. Therefore, as much as the commerce advisor is right to wish for trade, the PM probably summed it up even better not long ago when he ruled out any such advances till at least a change of government in Delhi.
Sooner or later, though, this matter will have to be solved; and that too on the negotiating table. Together the subcontinent is by far the youngest place in the world, which means that a vast majority of people here are below 30 years old. And much of the youth bulge on either side does not even understand the complexities of issues like Kashmir, which are rooted in a bygone era. It makes no sense for them to want to go to war over things that don’t really concern how they live their lives, raise their children, or advance their careers. And by refusing to accept this reality, the Indian government is not just wasting precious time and resources, but also turning its own country into a den of extremism that will cause itself much harm as well. *​
Source: Published in Daily times