A stable, strong Pakistan will be of India’s interest, says Air Commodore Jasjit
March 05, 2012
The Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education in collaboration with Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi organized a national seminar on the theme “Pakistan’s Future: Implications for the Region” on November 14 and 15, 2011. The seminar was inaugurated by an eminent strategic thinker of India, Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, Director, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi.
He said, “Pakistan is on the brink of self-destruction on the one hand and India is emerging as one among three major powers of the world.” He stressed on the fact that a stable and strong Pakistan would be in India’s interest. “However, in the present scenario, Pakistan is living on life support system, mostly aid from the US and China”. He stressed upon the existence of “multiplicity of policy” and that Pakistan cannot be a normal state unless it can have a normal army, he pointed out,
“The military should remain subject to the civilian government however corrupt, or inefficient the latter may be.” He brought his address to end by stating that the ideological conflict between India and Pakistan is the root cause of all conflicts between the two nations. While India has always believed in the principle of “everyone is equal,” Pakistan on the other hand was formed on the principle of how “everyone is not equal.”
In the special address, Hormese Tharakan, Former Secretary, R &AW, began by saying that Pakistan was the centre of attraction world over for all the wrong reasons. Therefore, there is a need to look at issues concerning Pakistan dispassionately. According to him, Pakistan’s history was full of contradictions. Be it the status of women or its policy towards terrorism. He observed that the best way forward would be to reach out to Pakistan especially in conducting joint investigation for solving terrorist cases.