"Modi has won the elections on a 'vikas' card. Both he and the leadership in Pakistan need to understand that this is what our region needs, not war."
"If Putin is talking to Obama I don't see why India should stop talking to Pakistan. Both sides need to understand that it is important to keep talking even if there are skirmishes. Not talking is a very stupid thing to do," said Ahmed Rashid, author of five books on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Calling the recent improvement in ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan as filled with promise, he said, "The Taliban has to be pushed by Pakistan army into a dialogue with Kabul. Pakistan obviously has a big role to play given the significant Taliban presence and its closeness to the Pakistan leadership."
He even invoked PM Narendra Modi while talking about lasting peace. "Modi has won the elections on a 'vikas' card. Both he and the leadership in Pakistan need to understand that this is what our region needs, not war."
Rashid who feels that: "Pakistan needs to save itself, if it doesn't want to descend into chaos," was joined by Anatol Lieven who's written Pakistan: A Hard Country, diplomat-author G Parthasarthy and senior foreign service statesman, politician-diplomat, General Musharaff's minister of foreign affairs Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri at a ZeeJLF session —'Descent Into Chaos: Pakistan on the Brink' — moderated by foreign affairs journalist Suhasini Haider.
The panel held forth on Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, their inter-relationships and what the future might hold for diplomacy and dialogue between the trio of nations even as over a 1,500 people, many braving a double whammy of rain and cold sat in rapt attention.
Lieven underlined how much the Afghan Taliban loaths Pakistan. "This may make dialogue difficult, but it is still very crucial. I am confident the ongoing talks are capable of producing a change of heart in the Pakistani ranks." Suhasini Haider pointed out how Lieven's Pakistan: A Hard Country, had prompted a Pakistan diplomat to remark "at least someone gives us the benefit of doubt."
While remarking that he hated to see "a neighbour on the brink," Parthasarthy thanked Pakistan's former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri for being the most agreeable of all Pakistani foreign ministers he has dealt with since the 1970s. Reacting to Rashid's refrain on dialogue the diplomat-writer categorically emphasized: "You can't have a dialogue when bullets are flying. Nobody hears the sound of the dialogue: everybody hears the sound of the bullet."
Kasuri, whose upcoming book Neither A Hawk Nor A Dove which is already creating a buzz before being published, tried to counter that asking for a large dollop of optimism when dealing with Pakistan and India relations. "Without that, you can't proceed further," he advised.
The writer of what is being called "an insider's authoritative and revelatory account of Pakistan's foreign policy, led to much laughter when he said, "My publishers have told me not to make headlines on anything other than the book." When he summed up his thoughts on Indo-Pak relations saying, "IK Gujral saheb and I had planted a sapling in the India International Centre. I hope its bloomed into a full-grown tree now and is growing faster than the Indo-Pak relations have," the audience whistled and applauded.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}