Mains Practice Questions

Approach:

• Explain the ongoing issues between India and Pakistan
• Explain its impact on the subcontinent.
• State other factors that can help improve the Indo-Pakistan relations and how will it help in establishing overall peace in the Indian subcontinent.

Introduction

• South Asia remains the least integrated region in the world as the regional cooperation agenda has constantly suffered because of India-Pakistan clashes.
• The peace and stability in the region has been undermined mostly due to by the hostility between India and Pakistan, the two major players with significant population.
• Conflicts on Kashmir Policy, border issues, terrorism, cross border ceasefire violations have affected the trade and economic cooperation in the region and has disturbed the stability in the Indian subcontinent.

Body

• More than 70 years of strained relations between the two countries have affected not only trade and economy, but also people to people interaction and common perception of the two countries for each other hindering attempts towards resolution.
• Both India and Pakistan are suffering expenditure in order to block out each others’ trade routes this in turn affects the overall trade and connectivity. The internal differences have also affected the global dialogues at the platforms like the United Nations, Financial Action Task Force, International Court of Justice, and World Bank.
• The regional tensions have negatively affected the connectivity and trade in the region. cross-border energy grids and road rail network connectivity, shipping and air networks to consolidate connectivity have been hampered.
• Deteriorating Indo-Pakistan relations have led to the weakened cooperation amongst the South Asian Association. for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. It has abysmally low intra-regional trade. The regional group is unable to push itself as a regional block because of instability.
• With the U.S. drawing India into its Afghanistan policy, and China’s stakes in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the subcontinent is becoming an area of contestation by players bigger than both India and Pakistan.

Way Forward

• India should work on its ‘Neighbourhood first’ policy by creating a mutually beneficial partnership with Pakistan. Kartarpur corridor is a good starting point for better relations.
• Both India and Pakistan as part of SAARC should learning from ASEAN and contribute to the larger goals for the region. A strong dispute resolution mechanism can be framed within SAARC in this context.
• The South Asian region faces many challenges that range from terrorism to climate change; working together will help these countries leverage their collective strengths to improve the lives of their people.
• Most of the South Asian countries have a shared culture, ethnicity and have shared experiences of historical events including British imperialism and its consequences. Resolving the conflict between India and Pakistan can unite the entire subcontinent to work towards shared goals.