Role of civil societies in Indo-Pak dialogue

Not official but unofficial dialogues between influential actors in civil society are to be focused for resolving all forms of conflicts in Jammu & Kashmir state. While the fact remains that people-to-people contacts could further the cause of reconciliation between India and Pakistan, the governments in New Delhi and Islamabad are obliged to encourage the right moves of the civil society for engagements at different levels between India and Pakistan . Unless and until the civil societies are not encouraged to push forward the process of people to people contacts between the two countries, a reasonable and a fair compromise over any issue concerning the people of Jammu and Kashmir is not possible .Since both India and Pakistan are obliged to offer both dialogue and and as well as build close cultural, economic and social contacts , the engagement of the civil societies of both the countries has become inevitable and unavoidable. On short-term basis, the need of the hour is to end hostilities and rigidities of all forms and manifestations for restoring the reconciliation process at all levels. As both New Delhi and Islamabad had vowed to make the line of control (LoC ) irrelevant during the Vajpayee years of BJP led NDA rule in the state, the revival of the engagement of the civil societies by both New Delhi and Islamabad could be a good beginning for laying the foundation for a broad based dialogue process .
As the mainstream political leadership of Jammu & Kashmir has been talking much about the internal confidence building measures (CBMs) in Jammu and Kashmir state and the separatist political groups are laying emphasis on the external confidence building measures (CBMs’) , the civil societies of India and Pakistan could push forward the process of the restoration of both the internal and external confidence building measures (CBMs) in Jammu & Kashmir state. Since we haven’t seen any interaction between the civil societies of India and Pakistan for a very long time now, the leaderships of India and Pakistan fail to reach a consensus even on the agenda of talks for the meeting of the foreign secretaries of the two countries . The civil societies of India and Pakistan having the advantage of greater acceptability than the governments of their respective countries can bring New Delhi and Islamabad to meeting points on many internal and external confidence building measures (CBMs’) but the governments of both the countries are obliged to let the civil societies joins hands for broadening the agenda of reconciliation and peace on all contentious issues particularly the much vexed Kashmir issue . Once the civil societies of India and Pakistan reach consensus over any issue including Kashmir, they can bring the leaderships of the two countries to meeting points even on the contentious. Under the present circumstances these ideas may not suit the foreign policy of either India and Pakistan, but nothing is impossible and the resolution of conflicts is ultimately a matter of will. Since the civil societies of both India and Pakistan have been showing greater will for the result oriented reconciliation processes for many years, So the governments of India and Pakistan are obliged to allow the engagements of the civil societies at different level .