Renowned Washington Post colomunist and CNN host Fareed Zakaria has suggested that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should go the extra mile with Pakistan the same way then US president Richard Nixon reached out to China or Ronald Reagan to Mikhail Gorbachev of the then Soviet Union
DAVOS, (Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2018 ) Renowned Washington Post colomunist and CNN host Fareed Zakaria has suggested that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should go the extra mile with Pakistan the same way then US president Richard Nixon reached out to China or Ronald Reagan to Mikhail Gorbachev of the then Soviet Union. "I think that Prime Minister Modi has the capacity to do something bold with Pakistan, which he has not done, Fareed Zakaria said in an interaction with “ India Today” Group Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie in Davos.
If Modi, Zakaria added, tried to do something with Pakistan, "nobody is going to attack him for being soft. And it would be a chance to really transform that relationship and by the way transform the subcontinent." If India and Pakistan were to trade together, it would be a big win-win, he insisted. "I have seen some analysis that say it could add half-a-point GDP growth to India if you had genuine almost kind of EU like trade. In a way, the goal for South Asia surely should be that these countries -- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka -- become a little bit more like the European Union.
" He said India and Pakistan had a gold opportunity when the military and the civilian authorities fused under Musharraf. Perhaps, some things could have changed. Now, that opportunity is gone. But if anyone from the Indian side who can strike a peace pact with Pakistan, it is prime minister Narendra Modi, the renowned journalist said. "What would he [Modi] lose if in the next two to three years, he makes a series of strategic overtures to Pakistan?” he said.
These overtures can initially be kept secret and made public over time, he added. “At the end of the day, the prime minister will only be commended for trying. Nobody will blame him even if the whole thing collapses. It is like the middle East peace process; nobody blames the Israelis and the Palestinians for not reaching a peace deal. That has been the story for the last 50 years.” Zakaria also feels that Pakistan should define its strategic interests by giving preference to geo-economics over geopolitics, and “If the leader of Pakistan says, ‘My goal is to raise the GDP and the living standards dramatically in one generation and I need peace and trade with India’, and if that becomes the conception of its national interest, it would be good.
” If he, Zakaria said, were in Modi’s position, he would try to encourage an atmosphere of peace and stability and not embolden the hardliners in both India and Pakistan. Fareed Zakaria said the withdrawal of US aid is going to be made up by the Chinese in no time. In a way, America will lose influence with Pakistan and if China gains influence, you can be sure that they are not going to tell the Pakistanis to rein in militants. This sort of pressure by Trump should have been exerted privately on Pakistan.”
