New book on India-Pakistan relations urges return to dialogue, reconciliation

None of the contributors could have imagined what would follow so soon. The incident has set off murmurs within the Pakistani establishment and press about a possible “foreign angle” and alleged “backing of the Baloch separatists by forces outside Pakistan”. These suspicions were stoked further by the March 11 hijacking and earlier unrest in the country’s troubled south-western province, which has resulted in the loss of at least 50 lives following security forces’ action against the hijackers.

Undeterred by such shocking incidents in the past on both sides of the border that inevitably trigger the same old blame game, no fewer than 50 writers from India and Pakistan had come together even four years ago to share their thoughts on how to build peaceful and normal relations between the two nations. So, this is now the second time that these writers have presented their work to the people of both countries — In Pursuit of Peace: Improving Indo-Pak Relations, Volume 2.

The need for dialogue

Earlier, some of these South Asian writers had come together as one collective voice — rather than acting as separate entities — to publish the first volume under the same title. Since then, their tribe has only grown. The second volume reflects this expansion, with new contributors from both countries joining the burgeoning bandwagon of peaceniks. Their essays and articles, written exclusively for this volume, underline a shared commitment to dialogue that transcends the heavily fenced and fiercely manned borders between India and Pakistan.

Essentially, the book delivers a clear message through its 52 contributors: there is no alternative to sustained dialogue as a means to resolve all long-standing and vexed issues dogging the two nations — including those related to restive Balochistan — as well as any that may crop up during the course of talks. Even writers known for their conservative views in their respective countries have not only accepted the imperativeness of achieving normal relations between the two neighbours but also lamented the inordinate delay that it has taken so far.

For instance, former Federal Minister of Pakistan, Javed Jabbar, begins his article, ‘The Pakistan-India Question: Answers Only in the Indian Mirror,’ with a note of caution: “It is… perhaps unreasonable on my part to expect the average reader, especially an Indian, to take a fair-minded view when one is laying open one’s cards and prior convictions on the table right at the starting point.”

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He goes on to explore what he sees as shortcomings in India’s willingness to engage constructively with Pakistan, but ultimately advocates for the resumption of dialogue in a robust and multifaceted manner: “To enable both states to comprehend the unchangeability of their respective realities, [we must] resume the process of dialogue — open, multi-channel, comprehensive, quiet, non-media-reported as well as public and media-reported; economic-centric, people-to-people, and even military-to-military contact and interaction.”

Similarly, former BJP Rajya Sabha member Prafull Goradia, in his piece titled ‘Joint History That Eclipses Realism,’ revisits the legacy of Mohammed Ali Jinnah and shares personal anecdotes and insights about the founder of Pakistan from the time he lived in Bombay (now Mumbai). These recollections are used to illustrate what Goradia sees as Jinnah’s highbrow egotism.

However, despite his critical tone, Goradia ultimately endorses the need for dialogue — albeit with some caution. He writes: “The only way to achieve Indo-Pak peace is for both countries to become realistic about their respective hesiyats (positions). It is not easy, but it should be possible given sufficient need and will on both sides. Remember, their joint history is a handicap which needs to be kept aside while negotiating the peace.”

Desire for talks remains strong

The point is that not only are the sceptics fewer than one might expect, but even they do not dismiss the pressing need for peace talks and the normalisation of India-Pakistan relations. Their approaches may differ, but the core desire for dialogue remains strong.

Most contributors — including senior dignitaries, thought leaders, public figures, diplomats, and academics such as Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Yashwant Sinha, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Ajay Bisaria, and Jalil Abbas Jilani — have written candidly and unreservedly in this volume. The book has been edited and compiled by Kolkata-based peace advocate O.P. Shah, known for his sustained track-two diplomacy between India and Pakistan.

Jammu and Kashmir turns out to be a recurrent and central theme throughout the book. Congress lawmaker Nizamuddin Bhat, hailing from the troubled border state, shares his reflections on the pain, anguish, and unresolved issues facing J&K. The Valley’s spiritual leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and several others also contribute their perspectives. Meanwhile, Dr. Karan Singh, the last scion of the erstwhile princely state, uses the book’s prologue to argue that dominant global trends may be overshadowing — and even blurring — some of the urgent issues that continue to haunt the region.

Dr. Singh writes: “The world today is in torment and turmoil, with old structures collapsing and new ones struggling to be born. Towards the end of the last century, we were hopeful that perhaps a global society was emerging. The miracle of the European Union — in which many local currencies disappeared and the Euro emerged as a common currency for Europe — gave hope that the world would gradually move toward regional groupings and then come together in a new and more democratic United Nations.”

“In India, I had hoped, with our own regional cooperation through SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) would emerge on the lines of the European Union. Unfortunately, at the turn of the century, we witnessed a strong backlash against globalisation. Strong nationalisms reasserted themselves, and even in Europe, with Britain leaving and serious ideological differences among the member states, the European Union began to lose its status, while SAARC, after a few meetings, has subsided into invisibility.”

Indeed, throughout much of the book, the decline and recent inefficacy of is a recurring point. An overview of the cycles of war and peace between India and Pakistan, written by former BBC journalist from India, Qurban Ali, also touches upon SAARC’s trajectory. He recounts the many summits held in the past, right up to the recent abandonment of the initiative by both India and Pakistan — largely due to the increasingly unseemly, unproductive and retaliatory or ‘tit-for-tat’ nature of their bilateral relationship.

Human side of the bilateral relationship

Away from the tough, often blow-hot-blow-cold diplomacy between India and Pakistan, the book includes a few essays that reveal the human side of the complex relationship between the two nations.

Famed Punjabi dramatist Shahid Nadeem’s predicament echoes that of the Kashmiri Pandits back home. His ancestors came from Kashmir, but fate compelled them to leave their homeland and eventually settle in West Punjab, where he now resides. Theatre, his chosen medium, brought him and his plays not only to this side of Punjab but as far south as Kerala — where, in an unexpected twist, a BJP leader who initially suggested deporting him and his troupe ended up becoming a friend, admirer, and even something of a fan.

Urdu-loving Indian journalist Rohinee Singh, meanwhile, recounts her journey and brief but warm and enjoyable stay across the border. Her trip was a personal pilgrimage of sorts, chasing the ghosts of Partition — ghosts that often appeared in the bedtime stories her grandmother used to tell her when she was a child.

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Similarly, author and former Hindustan Times correspondent Anil Maheshwari falls in love with Lahore during his two visits to the ever-bustling city — so near, yet often impossibly far to reach. But even more moving is the story of Ajay Pinjani, born and brought up in Karachi, who spent several years in Mumbai as a rare — or perhaps the only — Pakistani student there, driven solely by his love for learning. His experience can move any reader.

A similar emotional resonance is found in veteran journalist and peace activist John Dayal’s narration of Indo-Pak sporting confrontations. He captures the spirit of camaraderie between Olympians Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra — as well as the unexpected bond between their mothers — highlighting the deep undercurrents of understanding that can transcend borders.

This very spirit was summed up by India’s former High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria — who served in Islamabad until 2019, when both countries recalled their High Commissioners and downgraded diplomatic ties to the charge d’affaires level. Speaking at the book launch, hosted by former Vice President Hamid Ansari on February 28 in New Delhi, Bisaria remarked, “Individuals’ desire for peace on both sides of the border remains strong, but the institutional response to it has been poor.”