Dog fights in violation of airspace by both India and Pakistan landed a pilot of Indian Air Force (IAF) Abhinandan Varthaman into Pakistani territory and international community particularly United States of America (USA) had to intervene for the return of the IAF pilot to his country to bring down the rising public tempers in India and Pakistan. The intervention of the international community was by all standards of understandabilities a short term measure taken by it to show respect to the public sentiment in India but a third party intervention to resolve the outstanding issues between India and Pakistan could a long term measure for durable peace in the Indian Sub Continent. Unfortunately international community does not take the Indo-Pak animosity as serious as it should have been taken. Had the international community intervened to bring India and Pakistan to the negotiating table for settling the issues which stand at the core of difficulties in their bilateral resolution, the situation won’t have led to the dog fights between the two countries which could even trigger a full scale non stoppable war in the sub continent? If not today but in coming years the internal disturbances in Kashmir could become the cause of any major military conflict between India and Pakistan keeping in view the fact that the international community does not step in to facilitate the resumption of bilateral dialogue process between the two countries for last more than a decade now. The Agra Summit was the last high level political engagement on outstanding issues between India and Pakistan and not even a single high level political engagement between India and Pakistan has taken place in last seventeen years. Resolution of outstanding issues becoming election issues for political parties in power in both Delhi and Islamabad is a very dangerous precedence which if allowed to persist can become a potential threat to the atmosphere of peace and security in Indian sub-continent.
Allowing India and Pakistan to keep their channels of communication blocked for more time can be a threat to the atmosphere of peace and security in South Asia.
As some world leaders have already hinted at the possibility of Kashmir becoming a flashpoint of a full scale war in view of the increasing hostility between India and Pakistan for last more than a decade now, it is for the United States of America (USA) or any other influential sovereign state to step in for facilitating the resumption of dialogue process between the two countries. Allowing India and Pakistan to keep their channels of communication blocked for more time can be a threat to the atmosphere of peace and security in South Asia.
