INDIA
- PAKISTAN RELATIONS – INTERNATIONAL
News:
India asks Pakistan to
free prisoners, says ready to solve humanitarian matters
What's
in the news?
●
India
is committed to address “all humanitarian matters, including those pertaining
to prisoners” with Pakistan, the Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA) said in a statement after New Delhi and Islamabad exchanged lists of
prisoners on January 1 in accordance with the 2008 Agreement on Consular
Access, under which the exchange takes place every year on January 1 and July
1.
Key
takeaways:
●
The Government has called for early release and repatriation of civilian
prisoners, missing Indian defence personnel, and fishermen along with their
boats, from Pakistan’s custody.
●
India also asked to fast track the release
and repatriation of 631 Indian fishermen and two Indian civilian prisoners “who
have completed their sentence and whose nationality has been confirmed and
conveyed to Pakistan”.
●
Delhi has shared lists of 339 Pakistani
civilian prisoners and 95 Pakistani fishermen who are in India’s custody.
●
Pakistan was also asked to confirm the
“nationality status” of 71 Pakistani prisoners, including fishermen, whose
repatriation is pending as Islamabad has not yet confirmed their citizenship
status.
●
Lists
of nuclear facilities:
○
The two sides also exchanged lists of
their nuclear facilities on January 1 as part of a 1988 pact that is aimed at
preventing attacks targeting nuclear installations in each other’s territory.
India
- Pakistan Relations:
Backdrop:
●
India
and Pakistan share linguistic, cultural, geographical, and economic links but
due to political and historical reasons, the two share a complex relationship.
●
The India-Pakistan relations are one of
the most complex associations that India shares with any of its neighbouring
countries.
●
In spite of the many contentious issues,
India and Pakistan have made significant strides in reducing the “trust deficit” over the past few years.
●
In keeping with its “Neighbourhood First Policy”, India desires normal neighbourly
relations with Pakistan.
●
India’s consistent position is that
issues, if any, between India and Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally and
peacefully, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence.
●
In 2011,
after a meeting between the Foreign Ministers of both countries, the bilateral
ties were resumed on issues including:
○
Counterterrorism & Humanitarian issues
○
Economic issues at Commerce
○
Tulbul Navigation Project at Water
Resources Secretary-level
○
Siachen at Defence Secretary-level
○
Peace & Security including
○
Confidence Building Measures (CBMs)
○
Jammu & Kashmir
○
Promotion of Friendly Exchanges at the
level of the Foreign Secretaries.
●
India and Pakistan signed a visa agreement in 2012 leading to the
liberalization of bilateral visa regimes between the two countries.
Areas
of Conflict Between the two Countries:
1.
Cross-border Terrorism:
●
Terrorism emanating from territories under
Pakistan’s control remains a core concern in bilateral relations.
●
India has consistently stressed the need for Pakistan to take credible,
irreversible and verifiable action to end cross-border terrorism against India.
2.
Jammu and Kashmir:
●
Due to political differences between the
two countries, the territorial claim of Kashmir has been the subject of wars in
1947, 1965 and a limited conflict in 1999 and frequent ceasefire violations and
promotion of rebellion within the Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir.
●
India’s
revocation of the special status of J&K:
○
The relations between the two countries
have remained strained for years now and took a turn for the worse in August
2019 when India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
●
Pakistan’s
stand:
○
In 2019, Pakistan announced unilateral
measures, including the downgrading of diplomatic relations, suspension of
bilateral trade and review of bilateral agreements with India.
3.
China Factor:
●
China, who has always considered Pakistan as its younger brother, has always helped it by
providing it with military, economic and
technical assistance.
●
China has assisted Pakistan in setting up nuclear power plants and in
various infrastructure projects.
4.
Border disputes:
●
Since independence, both countries have
constantly engaged in border struggles while claiming for various regions in
the northern and western sectors such as Siachen
glaciers, Sir Creek disputes, etc.
5.
Indus River dispute:
●
The Indus Waters Treaty is the water
distribution treaty signed between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank.
●
According to the treaty, three rivers,
Ravi, Sutlej and Beas were given to India for exclusive use and the other three
rivers, Sindh, Jhelum and Chenab were given to Pakistan.
●
This treaty failed to address the dispute
since source rivers of the Indus Basin were in India, having the potential to
create drought and famines in Pakistan.
Bilateral
engagement:
●
India has made a number of attempts to build normal neighbourly relations with
Pakistan.
●
The External Affairs Minister’s also took
the initiative to propose a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue in December 2015.
1.
Trade and Commerce:
a.
Bilateral trade:
●
2020-2021:
The total bilateral trade between India and Pakistan was USD 329 million in
2020-2021.
●
2021-2022:
This has gone up to USD 514 million in 2021-2022, as per the ministry of
commerce, with Indian exports outnumbering imports from Pakistan.
b.
Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status:
●
India had accorded MFN status to Pakistan
in 1996.
●
A Pakistan cabinet decision of November
02, 2011 to reciprocate remains unimplemented
2.
Humanitarian:
●
In 2017, India suggested to Pakistan to
revive the mechanism of the Joint
Judicial Committee which looks into humanitarian issues of fishermen and
prisoners in each other's custody.
3.
Cultural:
●
The visit to religious shrines between
India and Pakistan is governed by the Bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines signed
between India and Pakistan in 1974.
4.
Kartarpur Corridor:
●
Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi
inaugurated the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor in 2019 on the occasion of the 550th
birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji
and flagged-off the first group of pilgrims to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib.
5.
Political:
a.
Lahore agreement:
●
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
travelled by bus to Lahore (newly opened Delhi–Lahore
Bus service) to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
●
The two signed the Lahore Declaration, the
first major agreement between the two countries since the 1972 Simla Agreement.
●
Both countries reiterated that they
remained committed to the Simla Agreement, and agreed to undertake a number of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs)
aimed at improving bilateral relations.
b.
Bilateral visits:
●
On 27
May, 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Pakistan's
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in New Delhi. Both sides expressed willingness to
begin a new era of bilateral relations.
●
In December,
2015, on his way back from Afghanistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
made a surprise visit to Lahore on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's birthday and
the wedding of his granddaughter.
6.
International level:
●
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India
(TAPI) pipeline which originates in Turkmenistan and
passes through Afghanistan, Pakistan before reaching and terminating in India
can also get huge benefits as it can help secure the National Energy needs of
both Pakistan and India, which are potentially growing nations with increasing
needs of energy.
●
The
Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is another project,
which is currently stalled. If relations are cordial, then this pipeline can
also supply the energy needs of both nations.
WAY
FORWARD:
1.
Reforming Pakistan’s political structure:
●
Despite the democratic elections in
Pakistan, the military wields real power
in the country. This holds true especially on matters of defence, national
security and foreign policy.
●
Pakistan’s
Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), consisting of personnel
from Pakistan Armed Forces, is often accused of supporting and training
separatist militant groups operating in India.
●
This makes it highly difficult for India
to undertake diplomatic relations with the Pakistani government since it is not
the decision-maker in the country.
●
Thus, a strong political reform in
Pakistan, one that focuses on the welfare of the Pakistani nationals is vital
to improving its relations with India.
2.
People-to-people relations:
●
Propaganda
is currently being used by both sides through the media to justify each other’s
stand on conflicting issues.
●
This is creating misconception, hatred and stereotyping among the people of both
countries.
●
This method is also used for political gains of both nations, with
the least consideration towards people’s welfare and the need for peace.
●
Steps must be taken to facilitate travel
between the two countries, ease up visa
regimes, provide security for tourists, set up student and faculty exchanges,
and invite professionals, intellectuals and artists to events to promote the
bilateral ties.
3.
Promote trade:
Steps that can be
undertaken to improve bilateral trade include:
●
Remove
non-tariff barriers and bureaucratic hurdles that are
currently impeding trade.
●
Cut
down duties
●
Improve
customs clearance procedures
●
Proportionate trade is beneficial for both
sides and is possible through the right government policies.
4.
Promoting soft diplomacy:
●
Use of Indus Waters Treaty to promote hydro diplomacy. Both nations can come
together to construct a water grid
between their territories to address the water problems in the region.
●
Cultural
diplomacy can be used through the exchange of ideas, values,
traditions, and other cultural aspects to strengthen bilateral ties, enhance
socio-cultural cooperation and promote individual national interest.
●
Promotion
of Cricket diplomacy i.e., the use of cricket as a diplomatic
tool to overcome differences between the two countries.
●
To a certain extent, soft diplomacy
improved the people-to-people relations
between the two countries and eased the tensions on both sides.