Time to end the insecurity and fear
28-May-2009
If you speak to most Pakistanis – even the rank and file of the army, as I sometimes do – the answer, Madhav, would be: yes, Pakistanis are ready for more open trade links with India. This shouldn’t be surprising. According to an International Republican Institute poll released a few weeks ago, the priority for most Pakistanis is the economy.
But, of course, there are also the geographical and cultural links between the two countries – Bollywood cinema and the Indian Premier League cricket tournament are hugely popular here, for example.
As for the army and the business community, they are often one and the same. Retired and serving officers have significant assets in the private sector. The largest of these are The Fauji Foundation and Army Welfare Trust. While ostensibly aimed at giving retired service personnel a source of income, these two trusts have been used by senior brass to amass vast personal fortunes virtually free of government oversight. The brave Pakistani analyst Ayesha Siddiqua wrote a seminal work, Military Inc., which covers the army’s encroachment into Pakistan’s private sector.
I agree it’s unfortunate that trade relations between Pakistan and India are strained, but this can’t only be blamed on Pakistan. Travel restrictions remain tight – I haven’t been able to visit my relatives in Hyderabad in India for some years. But regardless, I think it’s important to avoid the simplistic notion that only Pakistan is ever belligerent, while India only ever responds. This week, for example, the Pakistan government offered to open negotiations with India on nuclear disarmament.
Setting this issue aside, your talk of corruption in India, Madhav, gives me an alarming sense of déjà vu because Pakistani politicians are distressingly familiar with dubious bank accounts. Our current president has faced a string of money laundering cases in the United Kingdom, Pakistan and Switzerland that were dropped when he returned from his most recent exile in December 2007.
Of course, such problems have bedeviled many other nations – recent investigations have shown even several British ministers claimed exorbitant amounts in parliamentary expenses (though at least there are investigations there!).
But when it comes to fiscal matters, there’s little confidence in the Pakistani government or army either at home or abroad. President Zardari has promised to manage the vast sums of foreign – largely American – aid expected to hit the country much better than the previous Musharraf government. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also admitted her country has not always helped the situation in Pakistan by supporting military dictators and the anti-Soviet mujahideen that have now, in part, morphed into Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Over lunch at the weekend I spoke to a friend and veteran observer of the country. Her family is originally from Bihar, India, although she was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She said when she was a child there wasn’t much difference between India and Pakistan. But now, she said there’s deep fear and insecurity. People here just want an end to these twin curses.
(Published at: http://www.the-diplomat.com/article.aspx?aeid=14088)