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CONFRONTATION WITH INDIA

 

Our RecommendationPakistan must resolve Kashmir issue with India urgently. It is essential for the survival of Pakistan.

 

Explanation

Pakistan spends an enormous amount (20% of its annual budget*) on defense because of confrontation with India. Spending on a big army has been a major cause for decline for even world powers such as Spain and the Soviet Union** in the past. A country moves fast toward a disaster if it spends more money on defense than on education, health and other development programs. Pakistan spends only 1.4% and 0.2% on education and healthcare respectively.


European countries have fought with each other for over 200 years and now they are friendly. Pakistan and India do not have to go through the same misery (hunger and deaths) for their people. Preparation and desire of war to resolve issues is simply immaturity of people or nations. Waging war is a cultural trait. It is created by people and it can be eliminated by people as we have seen from the European history.


As Pakistan and India are facing the biggest threat (including shortage of water and the possibility of the worst famine in the history of the world) to their civilization because of climate change, we must choose to win (against the climate change and hunger, etc.) by working together.


Here is what Noam Chomsky recently said in an interview with Dawn.com about this issue:


“Another problem is the confrontation with India. Pakistan just cannot survive if it continues to do so (continue this confrontation). Pakistan will never be able to match the Indian militarily and the effort to do so is taking an immense toll on the society. It’s also extremely dangerous with all the weapons development. The two countries have already come close to nuclear confrontation twice and this could get worse. So dealing with the relationship with India is extremely important.

 

And that of course focuses right away on Kashmir. Some kind of settlement in Kashmir is crucial for both countries. It’s also tearing India apart with horrible atrocities in the region which is controlled by Indian armed forces. This is feeding right back into society even in the domain of elementary civil rights. A good American friend of mine, who has lived in India for many years, working as a journalist, was recently denied entry to the country because he wrote on Kashmir. This is a reflection of fractures within society. Pakistan, too, has to focus on the Lashkar [Lashkar-i-Taiba] and other similar groups and work towards some sort of sensible compromise on Kashmir.”


 

References

1) 19.8% of Pakistan’s 2011-2012 annual budget was allocated for Defense Affairs & Services and Military Pension.

 

2) When President Reagan elevated Cold War spending to undreamed-of heights, the Soviet empire, trying to keep up with the military outlays of its rival, collapsed. [“Whose Crises, Whose Future” by Susan George.]