South Asia Democracy Watch Welcomes De-Escalation of Indo-Pak Conflict
South Asia Democracy Watch (SDW), a nonprofit organization in Washington DC and Dallas, TX, has expressed its concern over the perpetual state of conflict between the two nuclear powers in South Asia.
In a press release, the organization has commended the current de-escalation of the conflict between India and Pakistan while deploring consistent threats to durable and long-term peace in the region.
“The ongoing conflict has reached to a point where it not only poses a severe threat to peace and development but also contributes a great deal to the suffering of South Asians, comprising one-fourth population of the world, whose life has become hostage to animosities between the two countries,” the statement added.
Citing the current global trends of reconciliation where the United States is negotiating with the Taliban to establish peace in the region, the statement asked if India and Pakistan can also follow suit in resolving their mutual issues with bilateral negotiations.
“Among the several hurdles to peace including domestic politics and geopolitical developments in the region,” the statement continued, “the two major issues of Kashmir and terrorism need to be addressed urgently in an environment of mutual trust and rationality.”
While India has been asking Pakistan to curb cross-border terrorism in India, Pakistan has been demanding to resolve the Kashmir issue and stop human rights violations in the Indian-administered Kashmir.
SDW also expressed the hope that after the forthcoming election in India, both countries will have a highly tenable environment to restart peace negotiations. The newly elected government in India and a recently installed government in Pakistan will be able to discuss their burning issues with or without a third-party mediation.
It is the first time in the history of Pakistan that the army and civilian government are on the same page on domestic and international issues which offers an excellent opportunity for India to work on a peace agreement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
