The worlds most dangerous border
To reduce the risk of terror, the West must help defuse tension between India and Pakistan
THE late Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administrations envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, had many virtues as a diplomat, but tact was not among them. His description of his theatre of operations as AfPak infuriated the Pakistanis, who wanted the Americans to regard their country as a sophisticated, powerful ally worthy of attention in itself, not just as a suffix to the feuding tribesmen next door. But that was not the only reason the coinage was unwise. It encouraged the understandable American tendencyshaped by the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the war against the Taliban and now the death of Osama bin Ladento see Pakistan in the context of the fighting on its north-west frontier, and thus to ignore the source of most of the countrys problems, including terrorism: the troubled state of relations to its east.
The border between India and Pakistan has seen a bloody partition in 1947 that killed hundreds of thousands; more than 15,000 dead in three wars and 25 years spent fighting over a glacier; 40,000-100,000 dead in the insurgency in the disputed province of Kashmir. And now both countries are armed with nuclear weapons.
Bloodshed over the border is not the only measure of the damage this poisoned relationship does. In India it exacerbates feuds between Muslims and Hindus. But Pakistan has been worse affected. Fear and hatred of India have distorted its world view and politics . Ignoring thisas the West seems to be doing againis a terrible mistake, especially because a settlement is not beyond reach.
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