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New Delhi, November 18
India-Pakistan relations are “chronically accident-prone”, says former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, who feels that the future lies in the past as the two countries carry too much baggage. He says Pakistan’s one-point programme is Kashmir but there is “Kashmir fatigue” in the world.
Singh, 87, also says that India made a fundamental mistake by going to the United Nations on the Kashmir issue and asserted there is no solution to it “as everything has been tried”.
“The fundamental mistake was to go to the UN on the Kashmir issue. (Prime Minister Jawaharlal) Nehru was pushed into it by (Governor General) Mountbatten. We went to the UN under Chapter 6, which is on disputes. We should have gone under Chapter 7, which is on aggression,” Natwar Singh said.
He said every Indian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister thinks he can resolve the Kashmir issue and smoothen Indo-Pak relations.
“The fact is there is no solution for Kashmir, everything has been tried. The other fact is that Indo-Pak relations are chronically accident-prone. The future of Indo-Pak relations lies in the past. Both countries carry too much baggage... I don’t see any change in our relationship. It is cheese and chalk... as simple as that. It’s a great pity,” he said.
Natwar Singh said nothing significant should be expected from meetings between leaders of two countries. “What could they talk? You can’t give an inch, they can’t give an inch. You meet and shake hands but there is nothing substantial. As I said, we have all tried. It is not realistic because if we really became very close friends, there will be a question mark on the existence of the country.”
Asked about the way forward, Natwar Singh, whose last diplomatic posting was as India’s envoy to Pakistan and then Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, said that status quo would continue.
“If Indo-Pak relations genuinely improve, became cordial and friendly, then the people of Pakistan will ask why do we need such a large army? The army is not going to give up.” He said the army “was an industry” in Pakistan.
“We would like to have good relations with them. We will like to have a stable and strong Pakistan, but it is a very unstable country,” he said. — IANS
‘Going to UN a mistake’
"The fundamental mistake was to go to the UN on the Kashmir issue. We went to the UN under Chapter 6, which is on disputes. We should have gone under Chapter 7, which is on aggression" K Natwar Singh, ex-union minister
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