The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
AT a briefing with the leading lights of the TV channels, a ‘high official’ has given details of the contacts with Delhi in order to de-escalate tensions and the baby steps being taken towards a peace settlement in the India-Pakistan subcontinent where nearly a billion and half people’s lives are blighted by poverty as a major chunk of resources goes into propping up the militaries.
Nobody in their right mind would oppose such an initiative whether it is rooted in India’s rethinking of its two-front security paradigm after its recent stand-off with China in the north and Pakistan in the west, or a realisation in Islamabad that after the West redefined its regional interests and turned off the multibillion-dollar pipeline, sustaining defence expenditure at current levels would spell doom for the country’s faltering economy.
The writer is the author of No-Win War The Paradox of US-Pakistan Relations in Afghanistan’s Shadow.
IT is no more a secret. The two hostile neighbours have been talking to each other. Backchannel contacts between India and Pakistan have led to some melting of the ice. Over the past months, the guns have fallen silent along the Line of Control and the rhetoric is down on both sides.
It’s certainly a good omen for what is described as a most combustible region. But it may be too soon to expect any dramatic change in the situation given the nature of the beast. Wishing for peace is one thing but the reality cannot be overlooked.
In this Dec 18, 2020 photo, Indian army soldiers patrol along the Line of Control n Poonch. AP/File
POONCH: The guns have gone silent, schools have reopened and the bunkers are empty along Pakistan’s restive Line of Control with India, but even as residents in Kashmir relax thanks to an uneasy truce, they fear fighting may erupt again soon.
For months, a precarious peace has been welcomed by conflict-wary Kashmiris along the so-called Line of Control (LoC) the boundary that divides the disputed region between Pakistan and India.
The surprise truce announced in late February brought an end to years of violence along the frontier that saw thousands of skirmishes rattle the disputed Himalayan territory, where the two sides have used artillery, mortars, and small arms.
The writer is director of Bolo Bhi, an advocacy forum for digital rights.
HORRIFIC events have played out in Myanmar in the past few months as its military deposed a democratically elected government and imposed martial law. It has killed over 800 civilians so far in demonstrations against the coup, and arrested journalists covering the violence. An information and communication blackout has been imposed, including intermittent internet shutdowns, blocking of social media, limiting public WiFi, and disabling wireless broadband internet, acts that the Global Network Initiative has strongly condemned.
This is a gross violation of fundamental rights of the people of Myanmar and a violation of international human rights laws. A military coup in the region emboldens anti-democratic forces, worsens the refugee crisis, cuts off people, and stifles voices.
Pakistan, India Cannot Afford to Go to War: Shah Mehmood Qureshi newsweekpakistan.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsweekpakistan.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.