BEIJING: International and regional developments require both India and Pakistan to start negotiating for improving ties and join hands for mutual development, Global Times, a Chinese daily newspaper said on Thursday.
The upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, to be held in China, provides a great opportunity for both countries to seek a way forward, an article in the newspaper said.
This SCO meeting is special as both India and Pakistan will attend as members for the first time. It is a good opportunity as only last month Pakistan and India had restarted a peace initiative.
The article said, the Bajwa doctrine by the Chief of Army Staff, Qamar Javed Bajwa was the first step. It talks about Pakistan’s desire for peaceful ties with all its neighbors including India.
New Delhi responded positively to Pakistan’s gesture and last month the Indian delegation attended a Track II diplomacy meeting.
However, in the past, there have been several instances of Track I and Track II diplomacy efforts – formal and informal channels have been used to bridge the gap between Islamabad and New Delhi.
Sadly, bilateral ties are so fragile that even a small incident can derail the whole peace process. Pakistan has been trying to mend ties with India and there have been several efforts by Islamabad to offer a hand of peace.
The problem lies with the policies India pursues its interests in the region. New Delhi is still going by the geopolitical approach instead of letting geo-economics lead relations. It is not only Pakistan, even smaller South Asian states are not happy with New Delhi’s attitude.
Relevant pieces published earlier:
i) The upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit will ratify a five-year outline for the implementation of the treaty on long-term good neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation. Member states might discuss measures to deepen cooperation and reach a consensus on important international and regional issues to enable the SCO to better play a role in safeguarding regional security, promoting common development and prosperity, and making international order a fairer and more reasonable one, according to an article published in the Chinese newspaper Global Times here on Sunday.
The 18th SCO Summit to be held in the coastal city of Qingdao in China’s Shandong province on June 9-10 will again be hosted by China since it was held in Beijing in 2012. The SCO has developed a new type of regional cooperation and a community of shared future. The organization plays an important role in promoting regional stability and development using the new type of international relations that promote win-win cooperation. The SCO gives priority to regional stability. Its member states signed the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism when the organization was founded. (3rd June 2018)
ii) Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today exchanged pleasantries with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana amid escalating tensions between the two countries. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit where India and Pakistan got full memberships of the bloc, in its first-ever expansion since its inception in 2001. This was the first occasion when the two leaders spoke in person after December 2015 when Modi made a surprise visit to Lahore to attend Sharif’s granddaughter’s wedding. According to the Indian media, Modi enquired about Sharif’s health, his mother and family. Both Modi and Sharif arrived in Astana on Thursday to participate in the SCO Summit. (9th of June, 2017)
iii) Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit beginning in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday, Foreign Office said. Pakistan will be given the full membership of SCO in the summit, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said in an interview. Referring to the situation in Afghanistan, Tehmina said Pakistan always supports Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process to restore normalcy in the region. (5th June 2017)
