Prime minister Manmohan Singh in an historic budge on Friday has offered Pakistan –country’ sibling archrival a peace treaty to end nearly six decades of tension palpable between two nuclear-armed neighbors
The treaty can be seen as an instigating step towards Indian supreme’ vision to move beyond “animosities and misgivings” of the past. “I have a vision that the peace-making process must ultimately culminate in our two countries entering into a treaty of peace, security and friendship to give meaning and substance to our quest for shared goals,” Singh said. During his speech at Amritsar before inaugurating a new bus service linking the holiest site of the Sikh religion, Amritsar and its Golden Temple, with Nankana Sahib in Pakistan PM said ” I make this offer to the people of Pakistan on this historic occasion.”
While applauding the Islamic state’ head Pervez Musharraf for taking spirited measures against Muslim extremists Singh said “General (Pervez) Musharraf has taken concrete steps to curb terrorism and I compliment him for that. But more needs to be done in the interest of both India and Pakistan,”
India and Pakistan have gone to war three times since they achieved independence from British rule in 1947, twice over Kashmir issue. More than 45,000 people have died since the Kashmir revolt broke out in 1989.Though Relations have improved considerably since the start of the latest peace process, in January 2004 and most recent October quake that devastated Kashmir, a tragedy which both faced cohesively has brought the countries together.
Singh’ appeal has received a warm response at the other end too. As said by Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam “We have always believed that the resolution of the Kashmir issue will lead to peace and economic development of South Asia,”
India had made a similar offer to Pakistan in the mid-1980s, but Pakistan insisted on settling the question of Kashmir before attempting other moves toward peace. However Singh hoping for the best this time made the final mark saying “I have often said that borders cannot be redrawn but we can work towards making them irrelevant — towards making them just lines on a map”