The way Americans have been nudging India and Pakistan to resume the suspended dialogue it seems they are really concerned about the situation in Afghanistan. President Obama appears to be serious in having a graceful exit from the area. The recent overtures to Pakistan confirm that the Americans have made an assessment about its possible role in bringing Taliban on board the exit strategy. The seriousness of Americans is evident from the presence of their Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake in Bhutan as an observer and the Pentagon announcement about the shifting of over hundred forty thousand Pak troops from the eastern border to the western theatre of operations. Normally one cannot trust Americans in view of their history of global interventions. Their latest ploy for global intervention is “War against Terror”. Under this cover they have virtually created a free access for themselves in entire Islamic belt. Now, they seem to be extending the cover to other non-Islamic areas. If one just goes through William Blum’s book, the “Rogue State”, one would fully get enlightened about the American game all over the world. In part III of the book titled, “A Rogue State versus the World”, William Blum has prepared a concise history of United States Global Interventions, from 1945 to the present time. There is a long list which starts with US intervention in China on the side of Chang Kai-shek. The countries and places of intervention mentioned include France, Marshall Islands, Italy, Greece, Philippines, Korea, Albania, Eastern Europe, Germany, Iran, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Middle East, Indonesia, Haiti, British Guiana, Iraq, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Ecuador, and so on. In fact, the list is quite long and all individual interventions have been detailed! William Blum compares the present American set up as an Empire like the Roman Empire. In fact, in many places they themselves first create the problems and then intervene as “Global Cops” to sort these out. Let us hope this time Americans have learnt a lesson and are genuinely interested sorting out the situations created by them in different parts of the world.

It is quite welcome that India and Pakistan are again on talking terms thanks to American nudge. However, for the peace process to restart in earnest with positive results something more than a nudge is needed. The two neighbours have been talking to each other for more than 60 years without any forward movement. Recently Finland has declared that for the settlement of problems between India and Pakistan third party mediation may be the only way out. It is said when two parties fail to solve a problem among them, outside mediation is the only way out. Many disputes in the world have been solved by outside mediation. Somehow Indian side is totally allergic to third party mediation. They always plead for bilateral negotiations which have failed to succeed in sorting out the basic problems confronting the two neighbours. This reluctance has been the main factor for Americans to shy away from mediation in the longest dispute in the history. It is ironic that initially it was India which took the dispute to UN for settlement in the form of a complaint of aggression and the world body started its intervention. Now after more than half century of lingering, the dispute is still there on the agenda of the world body. The stark reality of that is the white and blue building of the UNMOGIP (United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan) in Srinagar. If the Americans are not prepared to go beyond nudging, then the two neighbours have to sort out the problems on their own. Now that they have resumed one to one negotiations these need to be based on the ground reality. Firstly, they have to insulate the dialogue process against the off and on violent incidents taking places in both the countries. Experience has shown that due to the volatile and emotional state of the people in both the countries, the peace process remains on a precarious hold. Any violent incident completely disrupts it. Leaders on both sides claim to be fighting a war on terror but usually the war gets converted into mutual bickering and blame game. It is most important for both sides to demonstrate that they are genuinely taking concrete steps to root out terrorism and extremism of all types. Unless they practically do it, there is no chance of the mistrust being removed. While talking of the mistrust, one has to accept that main symptom of the same is Kashmir. Whether we call it the core issue or the symptom of mistrust, it has become over last 60 years or so the main bone of contention for two sides. Even though the mistrust has been there much earlier, yet from 1947 onwards Kashmir assumed the symbol of all bickering, blame-games or even became the basis for the physical conflict between the two sides. No doubt both the countries have suffered physically and emotionally during last sixty years due to the conflict yet the worst sufferers have been Kashmiris. They have been continuously in the line of fire and still continue to be in the same position. The ultimate resolution of the problem may take quite sometime as the first requirement is to build an atmosphere of trust between the two neighbours. However, it is not fair and just to keep the real sufferers in agony till the trust builds up. Both the sides need to realise that the people on whose behalf they claim to be fighting each other are in pain and agony and deserve immediate relief. The security situation in Kashmir must be eased for the relief of the common people. The atmosphere of siege must be terminated. Kashmir should not reflect the peace of a graveyard but the peace of paradise which it is globally claimed to be! The Confidence Building Measures already initiated need to be reinforced and implemented in true spirit rather than symbolically and new ones have to be initiated immediately. For the new détente, Kashmir itself should become the meeting ground. So far it has been the catalyst for all discords but now it should become the motivator for coming together in all spheres in the sub-continent and beyond. This can happen only if the two Prime Ministers sincerely decide to go beyond the external “nudge” and honestly take up the cause of peace on their own, not only in the sub-continent but in the entire South Asian Region. Media has already raised the hopes of the people in the region and they have great expectations. Will they come up to the expectations, time alone will decide. All are anxiously waiting!