Thousands of years ago, renowned strategist and philosopher Chanakya, who belonged to ancient Taxila in present-day Pakistan, offered a timeless lesson: arrogance blinds the ability to evaluate the situation, miscalculation leads to wrong decisions and ill-decisions ultimately result in negative consequences.
Over the past several years, India has pursued a rigid policy aimed at diplomatically isolating Pakistan. Alongside attempts to shape international opinion against Pakistan and heightened border tensions, New Delhi has sought to portray Pakistan as increasingly irrelevant and unnecessary to international affairs. Yet the evolving geopolitical landscape has demonstrated otherwise. Pakistan has continued to strengthen diplomatic engagement, contribute to regional stability, and remain an indispensable stakeholder in world peace and regional security.
As geopolitical crises unfolded in our neighbouring country Iran, Pakistan expanded its diplomatic outreach, engaged constructively with global partners and supported initiatives aimed at promoting regional peace and dialogue. The basic success of the Islamabad Talks highlighted a vital diplomatic reality: sustainable peace is possible not through exclusion or isolation, but through meaningful engagement with Pakistan.
Historically, the Indus Waters Treaty has survived wars, crises and decades of political hostility. It is a universal belief that water should remain above politics. However, the increasingly frequent unfortunate rhetoric from the Indian leadership regarding the suspension of water flows under the Indus Waters Treaty has now started to raise serious security concerns. Any attempt to undermine this principle risks creating dangerous precedents for South Asia and for international treaty obligations more broadly.
Therefore, it is significant that during the recent Corps Commanders’ Conference, COAS-CDF, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir reaffirmed that Pakistan’s rights under the Indus Waters Treaty would be safeguarded and that national interests would never be compromised.
Encouragingly, civil society on both sides of the border has also tried to light a candle of peace in this critical situation. Recently, 117 distinguished intellectuals, former diplomats, politicians, academics, artists and civil society activists from Pakistan and India jointly appealed to the prime ministers of both countries to restore full diplomatic relations and revive bilateral engagement. The letter called for reopening comprehensive bilateral dialogue, resuming visa services, reopening air links, facilitating travel and exploring opportunities for trade, economic cooperation, faith tourism and people-to-people ties.
In my view, history has repeatedly shown that ordinary people continue to value peace over confrontation. Millions of families divided by Partition continue to maintain emotional and cultural bonds across the border. Countless people want to avail opportunities to meet one another. Likewise, followers of different faiths seek access to their sacred holy sites. Pakistan is home to some of the most respected Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist religious sites, while India hosts numerous places of profound significance for Muslims.
Facilitating family visas, expanding religious tourism, easing border crossings, restoring commercial exchanges and encouraging people-to-people contact would help replace mistrust with respect. It is an undeniable fact that economic cooperation and tourism have historically created stronger foundations for peace than prolonged political hostility.
For such a bright future to emerge, however, one essential principle must be recognised by India: Pakistan is a sovereign, responsible and vital state on the world map.
The writer is a member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council.
He tweets/posts @RVankwani
