Here is a lesson that President George W. Bush & Co can learn from India and Pakistan…a lesson in diplomacy!
While in public lot of hot words are aired by the two neighbouring Asian countries, but behind the scenes a lot is happening which is making history.
After over 50 years of bitterness and wars, the borders between India and Pakistan are gradually opening up (despite terrorists making forays across the demarcation line between the two countries).
One of the most significant contribution of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to encourage trade between Pakistan and India.
“Bilateral trade swelled from $235.74 million in 2001-02 to more than $1 billion last fiscal year,” reports The Economic Times.
Says Raees Ashraf Tar Mohammad, a member of the Pakistan Grocers Association: ‘Businessmen of India and Pakistan now trade almost 2,000 items in more than 25 categories.’
” ‘This has built mutual confidence and communication between businessmen. We book orders on telephone or fax and the rest of the formalities follow. In the last 10 years or so not a single dispute was reported,’ Pakistan’s Daily Times quoted him as saying Tuesday.
“Pakistan’s exports to India have increased from less than $50 million in 2001-02 to about $300 million in 2005-06.
“Simultaneously, Indian exports to Pakistan too surged from $186.52 million to $802 million, up from 1.8 percent to 2.8 percent Pakistan’s global imports.’
Meanwhile India and Pakistan are set to go ahead with the tri-nation pipeline that will bring Iranian gas to their shores, says The Pakistan Times.
“The $7 billion tri-nation pipeline project is opposed by the US as it fears the funds from the pipeline may be used by Tehran to fund its allegedly clandestine nuclear weapons programme…”
So here’s a lesson! Mr Bush you have to learn to live with terrorism. Fight terrorism by all means…but with your head/heart and not just your legs and arms!!!
To read my earlier post on “India Pakistan will have Open Borders…in Five Years” please click here…
And for the US policy perspective pl click here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.