A dove by obsession, I had been campaigning for peace inside-out. Hoping to see serenity in the region has led me to be part of the yesteryears rubbing of shoulders of Who's Who from the civil society under the Track2.5 informal intellectual meddling, between Pakistan and India. I just tried to push the envelope through my intangible journalistic input. Those days are now mere footnotes in history, and the evolving relationship between the two countries is one of hate and otherness. Unfortunately, it has little or no room for any accommodation. Perhaps, Napoleon Bonaparte was unheard of in this part of the world who believed that one has to live with geography, and ignoring the ground realities of neighbourhood is tantamount to disaster.

It's now years that Pakistan and India are in an uneasy peace, and are not talking. Their diplomatic interactions are at the lowest ebb, rather infructuous. Missions on either side of the divide are without High Commissioners for years, and are being run on an ad hoc basis with no care and concern for those who might be in need of instant consular assistance. That's a callous approach towards their respective citizens. Issuance of visas to divided families and genuine travelers in exigency is a cumbersome task.

State-centrism has been in perpetual confrontation since the Pahalgam calamity. The subsequent four-day war in May has hardened their positions, and pundits of doom predict another showdown in weeks to come. India is not interested in a dialogue, despite Pakistan's overtures, even on issues of........

© The Express Tribune