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Religious conflict in southeast asia
Economic issues in pakistan introduction
Religious conflict in southeast asia
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Today, India’s economic progress and political stability, together with its size, have lifted it to the status of a world power. Pakistan, on the other hand, is dogged by an unhappy past marked by repeated military interventions that prevented democracy from taking root.
Both the regions form part of the South Asian sub-continent. South Asia is home to one fourth of the human race and has the largest middle class anywhere in the world. But the region also accounts for the majority of the world’s poor which is hamstrung by sectarian and caste beliefs and spends a disproportionate share of its resources, to meet non-productive needs. Moreover, South Asia has not been able to forge a cooperative framework to match the EU or the Association of South East Asian Nations while the SAARC which is now more than 25 years old, remains dormant.
The region is also a witness to growing nation-states boasting of their nuclear prowess. Both the countries, India and Pakistan, are aware of the fact that they are now nuclear powers.
Strained relations between the two countries with the uncertainty of a war looming large, has created an atmosphere of tension for their neighboring countries that jeopardizes the safety and growth of the smaller states thus hampering their economy while affecting the overall growth and development of the continent in general. To ease this situation there has been serious discussions on a No-War Pact and a Treaty of Peace and Friendship in order to eliminate the rising tension and the feeling of insecurity amongst the nation-states.
An attempt at establishing peace was made in 1999 when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee boarded a bus to Lahore to push the envelope on India-Pakistan relations. In 2004, a similar attemp...
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.... The international community could help play a major role as the two countries embark on a peace process. Economic cooperation is the strongest guarantee of peace. In the field of economic development, the decision by Pakistan to grant Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to India has been a major advance. Care should be taken to ensure that it is implemented in its true spirit. And lastly, official efforts will need to be supplemented by people to people contacts.
On making the first move towards friendship and reinstating its stalled process, India needs to take the initiative to lay at rest the fears of the military in Pakistan as it stands to benefit greatly from a transformed relationship whereas though Pakistan’s need for peace is greater, the weakness of its civilian government and its internal problems make it unlikely that it can take any bold initiative.