If I ever get the opportunity to speak to Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, my first question would be a very simple one and something people have been asking for close to 5 decades, though i am aware that the answer is going to be extremely difficult - How does he intend to solve the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan and further promote peace in the Indian subcontinent. Additionally, can India take the lead in creating a South East Asian Union on the lines of the European Union comprising of Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and India?
The cost of this military engagement has been very high for both India and Pakistan; socially and economically and has also started involving the neighboring countries in this conflict. Thousands of lives have been lost on both sides and there has been a huge expenditure incurred on maintaining standing armies; a cost which should be considered reprehensible particularly when we are struggling to provide basic sustenance to a large population in India. Further we have not been able to have a good economic bloc in the subcontinent where we can have proper trade and commerce with our neighbours.
Kashmir today has a very low economic capability since no organization wants to set up offices there fearing attacks from terrorists. Tourism, which before 1989 was one of the most important sources of livelihood has dwindled considerably, providing a lot of hardships to the local people. Obviously this has led to a large unemployed group, many of whom have started joining fundamentalist groups to create trouble across India, Pakistan & Afghanistan. Another major problem that has cropped up because of this conflict is the fanning by extremists of the religious intolerance which is leading to doubts being sown amongst various religions in existence in the subcontinent, particularly between Hinduism and Islam. There have been recent surveys where it has been shown that this suspicion is slowly making lives for Indian Muslims hasher and that their economic development indicators has dropped significantly compared to others. This is causing resentment amongst the people. This has also started affecting other countries in the region and makes it a dangerous cycle.
It also makes other countries have to choose between warring nations and this puts policy making on a knife edge; something that was clear during the last 5 years in Bangladesh where a pro Pakistan government had largely reduced trade with India. Today after the elections, it has again gone up after a government change. These changes are definitely not favourable for the common people in the subcontinent. We can only imagine the number of opportunities that would become available to entrepreneurs in all countries to reach out the nearly 2 billion people this South Asian bloc, most of whom are in need of goods and services to improve their quality of life. There are so many jobs that will be created if there is a continuity of trade leading to economic upliftment for all while at the same time removing the chance of having a nuclear war in the most militarized zone in the world.
The cost of this military engagement has been very high for both India and Pakistan; socially and economically and has also started involving the neighboring countries in this conflict. Thousands of lives have been lost on both sides and there has been a huge expenditure incurred on maintaining standing armies; a cost which should be considered reprehensible particularly when we are struggling to provide basic sustenance to a large population in India. Further we have not been able to have a good economic bloc in the subcontinent where we can have proper trade and commerce with our neighbours.
Kashmir today has a very low economic capability since no organization wants to set up offices there fearing attacks from terrorists. Tourism, which before 1989 was one of the most important sources of livelihood has dwindled considerably, providing a lot of hardships to the local people. Obviously this has led to a large unemployed group, many of whom have started joining fundamentalist groups to create trouble across India, Pakistan & Afghanistan. Another major problem that has cropped up because of this conflict is the fanning by extremists of the religious intolerance which is leading to doubts being sown amongst various religions in existence in the subcontinent, particularly between Hinduism and Islam. There have been recent surveys where it has been shown that this suspicion is slowly making lives for Indian Muslims hasher and that their economic development indicators has dropped significantly compared to others. This is causing resentment amongst the people. This has also started affecting other countries in the region and makes it a dangerous cycle.
It also makes other countries have to choose between warring nations and this puts policy making on a knife edge; something that was clear during the last 5 years in Bangladesh where a pro Pakistan government had largely reduced trade with India. Today after the elections, it has again gone up after a government change. These changes are definitely not favourable for the common people in the subcontinent. We can only imagine the number of opportunities that would become available to entrepreneurs in all countries to reach out the nearly 2 billion people this South Asian bloc, most of whom are in need of goods and services to improve their quality of life. There are so many jobs that will be created if there is a continuity of trade leading to economic upliftment for all while at the same time removing the chance of having a nuclear war in the most militarized zone in the world.
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