The writer is a public and cultural diplomacy analyst at TRT World Research Centre in Istanbul.
WHEN headlines announcing that India and Pakistan were resuming trade flashed across our screens, the first response of many was ‘what about Kashmir?’ or ‘has Pakistan given up on Kashmir?’ For some reason, the government decided against the move. And, just as quickly as they had agreed to restart, Pakistan and India were no longer trading.
Given the state of Pakistan-India relations over the past few years, this was not unexpected: we no longer watch Bollywood movies in Pakistani cinemas and Pakistani films were almost always entirely banned in India. We no longer play cricket together, and even when Pakistanis do have a chance to play in India, visas are hard to get. Gone are the days when it was easy to travel to Delhi, or to come to Lahore, whether to attend friends’ weddings, meet relatives or conduct business.
PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari addresses a press conference after the CEC meeting. DawnNewsTV
The Central Executive Committee of the PPP has asked all the party members to resign from their positions in the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
Making the announcement at a press conference after the conclusion of the crucial CEC meeting on Monday, PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said no party should try and impose their will and dictation on any other political party .
He said the CEC had rejected the show-cause notice issued to the PPP by other PDM parties and directed all its office-bearers in the PDM to submit their resignations from these offices with immediate effect in protest of the attitude, conduct and actions of other office-bearers of the PDM .