I think going back to the Topic , it shows how shocking it was for some visitors from India who visited Pakistan
Its really true, as a Pakistani when I view an Indian channel , the term Pakistan is always associated with a conspiracy of some kind
infact my mother pointed out that alot of time the reporters prefer to use the term `Neighbour` country as oppose to say the word Pakistan.
Is Pakistan any much different then lets say India or is India better the Pakistan its debatable
But from general observations , the general person is some what similar
a) Attracted to same form of music
b) Attracted to same form of Sports
c) Attracted to some what same family values (which seem to be diminishing by the decade, a cliche but its true)
As stated many times if the Issue of Kashmir was not an issue
Pakistan - India relations could rival that of Canada - USA ... in term of economy development and prosperity.
If we really look at the core , we see the difference on one hand Canada - USA or even European Union tend to celebrate
their ideals by allowing nationals of each other country to visit freely , trade freely and change ideas freely meanwhile
People in Pakistan and India are locked away in mindset some stone age , celebrating over a flag over a deserted mountain hill
or a odd shelling of village and killing of a lamb and odd donkey. This is what it is
But in reality if one travels across border , or uses one of those ISI tunnels , we will see that the world on the other side of border is not that much different sure its a littler greener and more forests but the people are generally same.
`The Sentimentalism` of being a South Asian is what drives the bridges to never lower between the two hill tops and it will remain this way , as we saw all the good work done in Musharraf`s era vanished by mere act of few individuals
And this constant focus on Militarization has resulted in god knows how much , and its funny because oddly enough the residents of both nations lived side by side during British occupations
While I do not favor Federation, I do hope that a Canada-USA like alliance or open borders emerge between two nations
Or a scenario where Economic cooperation is more important then dispute over land
I think its time we move away from Muscle flexing and kissing our own buttocks however ****** they may be , and start to see light. Not in the areas where light never shines but light towards a common economic goal.
Mars landing by NASA , with some collaboration with Canada is just an example how far regional cooperation can go two nations have a Rover Running Around on Mars
