Beyond hawks and doves

Influential voices in Pakistan and India, including two recent books, serve as advocates for cross-border peace and hope that post-elections, the new government will respond to these friendly overture

When Sikh pilgrims from India were visiting Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan to celebrate Baisakhi recently, Maryam Nawaz Sharif—chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province—joined them for a meal in the langar hall of the gurudwara. On this occasion, she made a public statement about opening doors of friendship between neighbours. Recalling her ancestral roots in Jatti Umra, a village near Amritsar in Indian Punjab, and her father Nawaz Sharif’s commitment to cross-border dialogue, she made a strong emotional appeal.

News reports indicate that her uncle Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, has been approached by business leaders to initiate trade talks with India. Malik Ahmad Khan, the Speaker of Punjab Provincial Assembly, too has called for the resumption of trade. This is a positive development, given the breakdown of diplomatic ties between the two countries after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that guaranteed a special status to Jammu & Kashmir.

While India is currently busy with elections, one hopes that the incoming government will respond to these friendly overtures. We cannot remain in a hostile relationship forever. The desire to move forward and craft a harmonious future is being expressed in India as well.

Ajay Bisaria’s book Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship Between India and Pakistan (2024), published by Aleph Book Company, is a case in point. In August 2019, Mr Bisaria—India's former High Commissioner to Pakistan—was asked to leave Islamabad after the abrogation of Article 370. Though Mr Bisaria’s exit happened on an unpleasant note, he wonders if the borders of the future would be more open and welcoming.

He was born in Srinagar, and his mother was in Lahore during the Quit India movement of 1942; so, his tenure was of personal significance too. He argues that both countries need to focus on bringing “prosperity to two billion inhabitants of a common South Asian homeland”.

Mr Bisaria hopes for a day “when the confidence of Kashmiris would be restored, when soldiers would not be required to guard every nook, when the borders could be opened up once again without the fear of terrorists and bloodshed”. In order to make this dream come true, he calls upon younger generations of South Asians to “reject the flawed choices of the past”. The humility to admit that mistakes have been made is gracious, as is the wish to rectify them.

The simplistic classification of people as either hawks or doves in the realm of international relations deprives us of appreciating the capacity of human beings to alter their positions over time. Besides this, the assumption that people who occupy official positions are necessarily opposed to people-to-people contact and grassroots peace activism is also quite unhelpful.

A S Dulat, former head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and Asad Durrani, former director-general of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) shocked many in both countries when their book, The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace, co-authored with journalist Aditya Sinha, was published by HarperCollins India in 2020.

It was unusual to witness spymasters from two countries with a long history of conflict engage in a mature and respectful dialogue on everything from Kashmir to Balochistan, and from cross-border terrorism to surgical strikes. They have a new book out with the same publisher.

Titled Covert: The Psychology of Peace (2024), this one is co-authored with psychiatrist and social scientist Neil Krishan Aggarwal. What makes it unique is that it digs into the childhood memories, family histories and career trajectories of these spymasters to understand how they became votaries for peace in this volatile region that has seen too much conflict and violence.

Dr Aggarwal belongs to a post-Partition family. He grew up hearing about life in Lahore and Rawalpindi prior to 1947. His interest in studying “the intergenerational transmission of trauma” is rooted in his own background.

In the new book, Mr Dulat, who was born in Sialkot before the Partition, notes that the peace lobby in India has weakened after the tenure of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister.  He remarks, “Generals talking to each other is a great idea because nobody understands the cost of war more than a soldier does.” This is not a new idea but it needs to be pursued with much greater vigour. After all, India’s former naval chief, Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, who passed away in March 2024, was an active member of the Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy as well as the India Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace.

While Messrs Dulat and Durrani advocate for peace, they have no delusions about the time it might take. Mr Durrani says, “The peace process is not going to be clinched in one go—we need patience, perseverance; it’s a give and take.” The road might be long but let’s start walking.­

The reviewer is an independent journalist and educator based in Mumbai