Sir,
Ever since The Line of Control came into existence (erstwhile cease-fire line) after the Shimla Agreement, which was concluded between former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Pakistani counterpart Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, it has remained a de facto border and has contributed to various major conflicts and uprisings including Kargil, Siachen, and refugee crisis involving mass extermination of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley. Besides, it has been responsible for Infiltration of terrorists from across the border, cease-fire violations and a never-ending cultural and ancestral links between the people from both sides of the LoC. The growing antagonism between India and Pakistan has undoubtedly contributed to more instability across the whole LoC. This was partially because India decided to revoke Article 370 unilaterally and has left Pakistan rattled since they have fed the narrative of ‘Kashmir banega Pakistan’ (Kashmir will become Pakistan) to every subsequent generation after Independence. In fact, the very “raison d ‘état” of Pakistan’s existence is Kashmir.
Moreover, it is highly that the situation at LoC will calm down in the coming days. India, on the other hand, has decided not to engage in any formal dialogue with Pakistan till the time they discard terrorism as a state policy. During Agra Summit held between Former Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf and PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001, one of the agenda was to make LoC as a permanent border.
Nevertheless, in spite of various agreements, the Agra summit was a failure which had severe implications on the stability of the South Asian region and continues to do so as of now. The concerns raised during the Agra summit were genuinely people-centric ones. The only way forward for both the nations is to tear down their “amour propre” and get back to the negotiation table.
Aditya Agnihotri
on e-mail
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