At the beginning of this year, in a surprise development, India and Pakistan agreed to strictly observe a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) as agreed by the two neighbors in 2003. It came after close to 7,000 incidents of crossfire across the Line of Control, accompanied by rising invective by the two countries’ leaders.
As always, nothing happens without a reason in the world.
The ceasefire has meant a new lease of life for the people living along the LoC. Hostilities, apart from claiming life and property, also force many families to migrate, leaving everything behind for survival. While the ceasefire led displaced families to return to their hearth and home, skirmishes threaten to undo what has been achieved. There is a need to strengthen the truce .
Peace on LoC remains a good step in view of the situation of the last few years during which the relations between the two neighbors plunged to their lowest. Islamabad drastically downgraded its relationship with New Delhi following the latter’s abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
Given the consequent state of their relationship, it appears unlikely that a dialogue between them could resume anytime soon. But stalemate is no solution. The neighbours need to fall back on diplomacy to break the ice in all these years. Perhaps it will do both countries well to renounce optics and concentrate on a means that will ensure peace and solution to the issues between them. Some political commentators demand that the nations need to fall back on the framework provided by former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf and former BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had agreed that negotiations on peace must be supported by a scaffold of three principal pledges: Pakistan’s assurance not to support cross-border militancy; India’s willingness to adopt a supple stance on Kashmir and the renewal of a series of confidence-building measures. It is hoped that peace prevails on the restive zero line and eventually lead to breaking ice in the ties between these nations. Here is hoping that reported back channel talks between the two countries meet the success.
