The Christmas truce between India and Pakistan
- By Sumantra Maitra
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 29, 2015
The U.S. State Department appreciated this effort, and the U.S. media, including the Wall Street Journal, noted this might be the start of a tentative thaw to the two countries' icy relationship.
Lu Kang, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry also said that China welcomed "the latest development of the relationship between Pakistan and India. As a neighbor and friend to both Pakistan and India, the Chinese side welcomes and supports, as it always does, the increase of mutual trust and the pursuit of common development through dialogue."
So far, there is reason for hope. The Pakistani establishment has been distancing itself from Saudi Arabia for some time now. Firstly, it refused to join the Saudi Yemen war; it began a détente with Iran. The Saudis in turn declared a 34-nation Sunni military force, which included Pakistan, even though Pakistan was not even informed of this beforehand. Needless to say, the Pakistani military didn't like this. Back in India, the Modi government is under increasing pressure as the country's economic dream has stalled, and reactionary forces are taking over and coming out with statements against minorities. Modi's fabled diplomacy initiative has got a lot of investment promise. The "Made in India" campaign is extremely hyped but has so far brought back little tangible results. If Modi and Sharif can capitalize on this truce, it will be a feather in the cap of both the leaders, and might prove to be a long lasting legacy for the sub-continent.
However, one needs to be careful. There are forces in both countries that are significantly opposed to any peace process. The survival of these forces depends on that. A couple of individuals who fit this description are Hafeez Said from Pakistan and Ram Madhav from India. While Said railed against Sharif for giving in to India at the cost of Kashmir, Madhav was complaining about how the entire Indian continent, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, should be united as a pre-British entity. These are not beneficial overall for geo-politics, and are frankly laughable with regards to practicality.
The Christmas truce in 1914 didn't last long. Geo-politics caught up and the war went on for another four years. While the India-Pakistan conflict is in no way quantitatively comparable to either of the World wars, it is nonetheless equally important to keep the peace process going, regardless of the cost.
Sumantra Maitra is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SumantraMaitra.htm
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