India

Committee On External Affairs: Terrorism remains the biggest hindrance to ties between India and Pakistan

Committee On External Affairs: Terrorism remains the biggest hindrance to ties between India and Pakistan

Terrorism Framework will remain hindrance to ties between India and Pakistan. Today Parliament’s standing committee on External Affairs stated that new recommended must be adopted on National Security solution. Mentioned in the conference that the relationship has witnessed many ups and downs through four wars, numerous ceasefire violations and crises. The growing realisation among the international community about Pakistan being the epicenter of terrorism in the world.” The enduring aspect of the India-Pakistan relationship has been the persistence of mutual antagonism, mistrust and conflict,” the Committee, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, a former junior External Affairs Minister, said in its report tabled in parliament today. The biggest hindrance in smooth ties between India and Pakistan has been Pakistan’s use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy to destabilize India in general and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in particular. It also referred to Pakistan’s deep state a reference to its army and the ISI and said it has vested interests in the continuation of the proxy war. History has long shaped with geographical contiguity of the two countries.

According to the report, Pakistan’s strategy of deniability and claiming equivalence as victim of terrorism appears nothing but an alibi for its inaction. “Pakistani sponsored terrorism is not only a major threat to India but also to the entire region,” it said. Another reason for the continued hostility and suspicion between the two sides is the competing and conflicting territorial claims. “While Siachen and Sir Creek are unsettled territorial disputes, Pakistan’s unsupported claim to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been constant irritation to successive Indian governments,” the report said. Though the military establishment’s self-interest remains the key factor behind the continuity in hindrances to peace,” it stated. Another major impediment has been inadequate economic, cultural and civilization links.

“Instead of expanding people-to-people contacts through visa relaxation, religious tourism, music, sports and arts, there has been contraction in cultural exchanges between people-to-people in all spheres of their lives,” the report said.

Stating that the absence of a structured dialogue was another stumbling block, it said that though the two sides agreed in 2015 to have a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue, the Pathankot terrorist attacks last year put it on hold. It said both sides needed to internalise the lessons from the past and act accordingly. It also referred to the growing nexus between China and Pakistan for the problems in the region. “The growing nexus between China and Pakistan in the form of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), increasing military, nuclear and missile development cooperation as well as the prevention of UN sanctions on Pakistani sponsored terrorist outfits is adding to the complexity of the security dilemma in the region,” the report said.

We need to widen and deepen cultural, sporting and economic engagement, which in turn would create a more favorable environment for the resolution of bilateral political disputes.

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