3 - 9 January 2002
Issue No.567
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 3 - 9 January 2002 Issue No.567 |
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A festering sore
In December 1971 India and Pakistan went to war over Kashmir. Hostilities had erupted before, in 1948 and 1965. And 30 years later they are again on the brink of conflict. The difference, though, between then and now, is that both states are nuclear powers, and both have refused to sign the Nuclear Non- Proliferation treaty.The two countries have deployed thousands of troops along their 1,760 km-long border. Mercifully, the bellicose tone of their recent pronouncements has mellowed somewhat in the past couple of days. War may have been averted, but the underlying causes of the tension between the two countries remain.
Events in South Asia have a profound impact on the Middle East. India, the world's largest democracy, is a rising economic power of great promise while Pakistan carries great weight as a Muslim nation whose very existence is sourced in Islam. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf made a bold decision to side with the United States led-war on terrorism in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.
It is essential that relations between New Delhi and Islamabad move forward. Both nations have been the victims of terrorist attacks, and the lingering horror of those atrocities has yet to disperse. We must hope that the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Nepalese capital Katmandu will provide a forum during which the root cause of the conflict -- Kashmir, a problem as old as independent India and Pakistan -- can be addressed.
Since independence India has been challenged by a variety of religious extremists -- the destruction of the mosque at Ayodhya being but one ominous example among many. Yet the majority of India's 170 million Muslims have remained loyal citizens of their secular state.
Egypt remains committed to developing and maintaining close relations with both India and Pakistan. It is imperative, though, that the two neighbours develop a stable structure for mutual co-operation. Egypt and the international community have urged the warring protagonists to exercise maximum restraint. Such encouragement must continue.
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