New Delhi, Mar 10: There is a paradigm shift in the way relations with India are seen in her country, and it was high time that India understood this change, Member of a leading Pakistan think tank said here today.
“Relations with India are no longer seen in my country through the prism of PaK-US Relations,” said Dr Huma Baqai, Joint Secretary of the Karachi Council of Foreign Relations speaking at the Asian Relations Conference.
There has dawned a whole new era of accountability in body politic with the judiciary and also the media playing their required role, and the political executive asserting its authority vis-a-vis military, said Dr Baqai, a political anlayst and expert in international relations.
There was now a questioning about everything that happened in the past, especially in relation to India, she added.
In her view the military was more mature today to attempt any coup, though in the last five years of democracy, several coups had been predicted. In this context she referred to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s statement that his government will not tolerate any other state within state, underlining that in the past no Prime Minister could make such a statement against the military and survive for even a single day.
Earlier, every military ruler used to manipulate judiciary, but things had started changing for about six years ago. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf tried but failed.
All the political parties, even those in the rightist camp, now want improved relations with India.
It was high time that those at the helm of affairs in India should understand and take note of this change.
India should lend a helping hand to those in Pakistan who want to see the end of conflict.
Dr Baqai was of the view that peace process between the two countries should not be a hostage to the acts of terrorists with whom Pakistan itself has no control. She sought to underline that Pakistan had sufferred more at the hand of terrorism than India. (UNI)
Source: http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-170757.html