India and Pakistan: The Stark Reality

Not really having much inclination for Indian movies and not seen one for some time, I recently watched a song-and-dance from an Indian movie on DVD. The hero’s acrobatics and the heroine’s skin-hugging dress and her flowing hair notwithstanding, what struck me was as to how far India has come in video making reflected in the loveliness of that video. The video was exceedingly well made: excellent choreography based on a good musical beat combined with very good photography; the icing on the cake being the looks of the hero and the heroine, both were attractive and knew their moves smoothly.

The signs that India has come far and has arrived on the world stage as a major player are not only reflected in its movies, they are everywhere: from NASA--that last Columbia Shuttle had an Indian women as an astronaut--to Finance--the head of the world’s most prestigious consulting firm, McKinsey, is an Indian, and Indian writers are regular contributors to Harvard Business Review--to Politics--Bobby Jandil, a son of Hindu parents from India born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, may become the governor of a State which is overwhelmingly white and, at 32, must have one eye on the presidency of the US--to Literature--Vikrim Seth and Rohan Mistry, among many other Indians writing in English, are among the very best English Literature has to offer today. India now has the bedrock laid on which it has nowhere to go but up. India has been able to generally maintain law and order and hold together a country that is unmatched in its complexity and diversity; it has academic institutions that could be the envy of the world; its justice system works well, one which honors contracts and politicians honor; it has among the world’s best and most renowned companies fully operational on its soil; and, above all, it has a functioning democracy. These are the backbone of progress and prosperity of India, a country and a civilization on the rise.

India now commands world’s respect and its power acknowledged. Its economy is flourishing and it is building a formidable defense system. It has friendship and alliances with all the important and powerful countries of the world, including the US, Russia, the European Union, Israel, China, Iran, Afghanistan, the Gulf States, and the Central Asia countries (remarkably, not a squeak was heard from the Palestinians and the Arabs when Sharon visited India). India is the prime candidate for the permanent seat at the UN, and if the UN is restructured, India is on the table to be a corner stone of the new UN. It is either a member or gets invited to among the most important gatherings, such as ASEAN, GCC and G8, and is under consideration as an observer even by the OIC.

All that has policy implications for Pakistan. But, unlike India, Pakistan has failed to lay the bedrock of institutions that predict a country’s prosperous future. There are no institutions in which Pakistan can come even close to India, let alone compete with it. The world, including the OIC, has no time for Pakistan’s grievances, but only to carry out its dirty work. Pakistan is cornered and the Indian reality is staring in Pakistan’s face.

With that reality, what should Pakistan do vis-à-vis India, obviously now a very powerful foe? With India getting Phalcons from Israel, and IL-76 aircrafts from Russia to equip those Phalcons, Pakistan will be as hidden to India as a well-lit glass-house in the dark. With the “eye in the sky” Phalcons, India will be able to monitor Pakistan Army very closely, including its missiles movements, without flying in Pakistan’s territory. Pakistan Army, then, must first realize that the era of armed confrontation, especially with a country far more rich and powerful than itself, is not only over it had been over ever since the Berlin Wall came crumbling down. It’s a country’s economy and stability that is the key to power and influence, as Japan has amply demonstrated. In the current state in which Pakistan find itself against India, India cannot be thwarted by Pakistan; unfortunately for Pakistan, the other way round is not so difficult.

A tattered country inflicted with sectarian violence, terrorism, and fractured political and judicial systems, Pakistan offers little hope to its people and is an easy target for destabilization by its enemies. With Iran and Afghanistan friendlier to India more than to Pakistan, it is now completely surrounded by India, which may run over it within a few years. Pakistan’s only choice to counter India lies in bringing its own house in order. The immediate task at hand for Pakistan is not to further build-up its defenses or to buy more weapons to counter India, which in arms it most certainly cannot. The most urgent and immediate task for Pakistan is to reform its Judiciary and let democracy take roots in a country dangerously polarized along the ethnic lines and social imbalance.

If the Army loves Pakistan as it claims, it should get out of politics. If the Army wants to play any role at all in civilian life for the betterment of Pakistan, it should be to ensure that no matter how incompetent or corrupt a leader is, if the majority of the voters of Pakistan choose him or her, that leader is elected fairly and squarely, and that elections take place on a regular basis. Other than that, the Army should not have any role to play in Pakistan’s politics. Let the Judiciary sort out the politicians’ bickering. Musharraf may be the best leader Pakistan ever had who is doing everything Pakistan needs to get done to be a better country. Even if that were all true, Musharraf still remains a liability for Pakistan. He is not elected and lacks legitimacy, and hence credibility and respect. The union of civilized and rational thinking countries, which incidentally are also the most powerful--economically, militarily and scientifically--, regard non-democracy as a cardinal sin and the army rule as the worst form of it.

Democracy has saved India and has earned it respect of the comity of nations that matter. Pitted against a formidable foe, the lack of it may reduce Pakistan to only a sad read in the annals of history. The reality is stark.