DURING his last days, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad AliJinnah was perturbed at the Cold War rivalry emerging between the USA and the USSR.

The Quaid keenly desired that the subcontinent, and all of South Asia should remain aloof from the rivalry. Therefore, he proposed a joint defence pact with India. Had India accepted his idea, the two countries would not have been at daggers drawn after independence.

Before his final flight (Aug 7, 1947) from Delhi to Pakistan, he sent a message to the Indian government, “the past must be buried and let us start as two independent sovereign states of Hindustan and Pakistan, I wish Hindustan prosperity and peace.” Vallabhbhai Patel replied from Delhi “the poison has been removed from the body of India. As for the Muslims, they have their roots, their sacred places and their centres here. I do not know what they can possibly do in Pakistan. It will not be long before they return to us.”

Even Nehru, an ostensibly liberal leader, regarded the creation of Pakistan as a blunder. His rancour against Pakistan reaches a crescendo in his remarks: “I shall not have that carbuncle on my back.” (D. H. Bhutani, The Future of Pakistan, page 14).

India’s jingoistic military expenditure ratchets up Pakistan’s defence budget. To meet India’s threats, Pakistan has had to provide a defence outlay of Rs1.1 trillion vis-a-vis a paltry Rs800 billion rupees for the Federal Public Sector Development Programme and only Rs850 billion for all the three provinces.

Will India stop its worldwide defence purchases to open a new chapter in relations with Pakistan?

Amjed Jaaved
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2018