Are India And Pakistan Reconciling?

Christian Science Monitor: A bright hope for 2016: India and Pakistan reconcile

A bright hope for 2016: India and Pakistan reconcile

A surprise visit on Christmas Day between the leaders of India and Pakistan hint at a mutual desire to no longer let historic tensions hinder their drive against poverty.

One of the most hopeful events in 2015 was a surprise visit on Christmas Day between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif. Their power lunch showed a spirit of generosity for the leaders of two nuclear powers so long at odds that South Asia is viewed as the most dangerous place on earth.

While one summit does not make peace, the visit hints that the two countries may now be able to transcend difficult issues of territory, terrorism, religious divide, and national identity.

One possible motivation for the sudden warmth: Both leaders may empathize with the other about the urgent need to tackle poverty rather than allow tensions to hinder economic growth. As the rest of the world has moved toward interdependence, Pakistan and India have remained mired in post-colonial quarrels for 68 years, a result of an awkward and violent partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.

WNU Editor: If both countries do reconcile .... it will shape this part of the world into the next century. But my prediction is that while the leaders may want to find common ground .... there are many who have different agendas, and it will not take much to reverse all of the goodwill that has come out of this visit.