A well-meant thread, although some of the members are getting a tad too emotional. Some of the comments here are identical to what Indians ridicule Zaid Hamid for - "Our potential is unlimited"..."this is our century"..."we can be the greatest if we are united"..."external powers are the reason we are divided" etc.
I agree there is nothing preventing us from being friendly. That not only makes sense for peace and security, but also for economic and developmental reasons. But the issue is - are our people mature enough to handle it? People talk of the EU, but that came about 50 years after the end of WWII. And that too among modern, prosperous and open societies. We are a far cry from it. Why blame the uneducated and extremist - even on this forum, one can witness the hostilities between the cream of the countries. Genuine appreciation of the other's achievements are rare, and at best, there are back-handed compliments. Members spare no opportunity to remind the other of poverty, dictatorship, terrorism, lack of toilets etc. It isn't Lord Macaulay or Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton who is asking you to do that. It is you who is doing it, with apparent full awareness of our shortchanged-by-the-west history. Has anyone given that a thought?
India and Pakistan must work together, just as we both should with all other countries. But let us not keep blaming the west and foreign powers for coming between us. That may have been the case 60 years back. If you can't get over it in all these years, you probably never will.
I agree there is nothing preventing us from being friendly. That not only makes sense for peace and security, but also for economic and developmental reasons. But the issue is - are our people mature enough to handle it? People talk of the EU, but that came about 50 years after the end of WWII. And that too among modern, prosperous and open societies. We are a far cry from it. Why blame the uneducated and extremist - even on this forum, one can witness the hostilities between the cream of the countries. Genuine appreciation of the other's achievements are rare, and at best, there are back-handed compliments. Members spare no opportunity to remind the other of poverty, dictatorship, terrorism, lack of toilets etc. It isn't Lord Macaulay or Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton who is asking you to do that. It is you who is doing it, with apparent full awareness of our shortchanged-by-the-west history. Has anyone given that a thought?
India and Pakistan must work together, just as we both should with all other countries. But let us not keep blaming the west and foreign powers for coming between us. That may have been the case 60 years back. If you can't get over it in all these years, you probably never will.