With tension permeating the India-Pakistan military and diplomatic relationship for the larger part of seven decades, people-to-people and economic links have borne the brunt of this mutual aggression. In September, bilateral tensions further soured after the killing of a Border Security Force soldier and the cancellation of a meeting between the two Foreign Ministers, yet two other developments rekindled hopes of creative collaborations.
The first is Pakistan’s willingness to open the Kartarpur corridor which would connect Dera Baba Nanak in India with a historic Sikh shrine, the Darbar Sahib, Narowal, in the town of Kartarpur, Pakistan. Darbar Sahib is where Guru Nanak Dev, the first Guru of the Sikhs, spent the last few years of his life. This has been a long-standing demand of the Sikh community, and it drew attention after Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s encounter with Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony. Mr. Bajwa told Mr. Sidhu that Pakistan was willing to open the corridor for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. Mr. Sidhu, who drew a lot of flak for hugging Mr. Bajwa, cited the latter’s assurance as a reason for his emotional display.
On September 8, Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in an interview that his country was willing to provide visa-free access to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara. New Delhi is apparently awaiting official communication from Pakistan, though the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, did visit Darbar Sahib. This issue is relevant not merely to the Sikh community but to all those who believe in Guru Nanak’s message of peace and compassion.
The second event relates to India-Pakistan trade. The U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, John Bass, spoke of Pakistan’s willingness to allow India-Afghanistan trade via Pakistan. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was quick to deny that Pakistan had made any such proposal, but a senior diplomat is unlikely to have made these comments unless some conversation had taken place. Bilateral trade with Afghanistan through Pakistan matters strategically to New Delhi and Kabul. With this move, Pakistan could change the narrative in South Asia.
It is unfortunate that steps such as opening up the Kartarpur corridor, which can help in building better ties, get relegated to the background once political tensions rise. Perhaps the India-Pakistan relationship could use the India-China relationship as a template, where, despite tensions such as the Doklam standoff, bilateral trade rose in 2017-18, and people-to-people linkages (for example, in terms of pilgrimages to Kailash Mansarovar through Nathu La) have not been affected.
The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst associated with the O.P. Jindal Global University