The Hidden Message of President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to India

The Hidden Message of President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to India

India-Pakistan relations have always been on the edge to the point where it seems like war may break loose at any moment, but President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari’s recent visit to the neighbouring country was definitely a good sign and had an even better
hidden message.

President Zardari’s fourth year as the country’s President continues to be fruitful for providing a strong basis for the country which was close to being declared a failed state after the departure of military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf was the last Head of State to visit India back in 2005, but since he was in uniform at the time and had taken over the country by the imposition of martial law, it definitely did not hold good with our neighbours.

What President Zardari did better was continue with his policy of reconciliation and took small steps towards improving our relationship with our Indian neighbours. There is no doubt in the fact that India is an emerging superpower in terms of economy and
an industrial boom, which makes it even more important for us to have good terms with them.

Following unprecedented steps to improve our trade relations with the country along with ease travel between the two, President Zardari showed signs to the Indian people that Pakistan is and will continue to be willing to work toward further reconciliation
and eventually long term and definite peace.

China also praised the President for his moves and considered it an act of goodwill.

What President Zardari did different is not engage his Indian counterparts in heavy political discussions which would involve talking strategic imbalance, Hafiz Saeed, the Mumbai attacks, Kashmir and many other issues. Instead, what the brilliancy of President
Zardari was that he made it more of a private trip on purpose to at least engage in some communication which forced Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to schedule a meeting over lunch between the two, which was certainly fit for a king and a great gesture
from their side.

The donation of $1 million the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer could be suggested to be overboard by some people, but in reality, it was necessary to not only show the willingness to contribute but President Zardari used it on the Muslim
community as well.

While many parts of the media have always went against President Zardari, there is no denying that he has taken a number of steps that will eventually prove fruitful for the nation in the long run. Problems like Kashmir and terrorism cannot be dealt with
immediately, like Musharraf wanted but to no use, instead, such issues need to be dealt with by both countries equally compromising and willing to take it to an international level where other powers will be there to judge.

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Posted by Syed Hassan Bokhari on Apr 9 2012. Filed under Editorial, Latest News, Opinion, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry