April 18, 2005
THEY'VE ONE BIG THING IN COMMON:
Our fight is over, say India and Pakistan (Richard Beeston, 4/19/05, Times of London)
General Pervez Musharraf, the visiting President of Pakistan, and Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, pledged a series of confidence-building measures to improve trade and travel between the two states and in particular defuse the potentially explosive conflict in the disputed region of Kashmir.Originally the three-day visit by General Musharraf to India was supposed to be an informal chance for the two leaders to meet at a one-day cricket international between India and Pakistan.
But, as Mr Singh explained yesterday, the game opened the way for four rounds of diplomatic talks that have improved relations between the two countries to their best level in years.
“Conscious of the historic opportunity created by the improved environment in relations . . . the two leaders had substantive talks on all issues,” the Indian leader, reading from a joint statement, said. “They determined that the peace process was now irreversible.”
The two sides agreed to increase the frequency of a cross-Kashmir bus service, encourage family reunification, open other border crossings to civilian traffic, revive joint trade ties, open consulates in Bombay and Karachi, and explore building a pipeline to carry gas from Iran via Pakistan to India.
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 18, 2005 11:54 PM
The elder President Bush had every possible advantage foreign policy-wise over his son, but did not accomplish anything of this magnitude. In the infamous "pop quiz" given to George W. Bush as a Presidential candidate, he could not namet he head of state of Pakistan.
The transformation of Pakistan from the Islamist-exporting, nuke-exporting, neighbor-threatening state it was in the 90s to the state it is today would have been a top 3 foreign policy achievement in any other administration since WWII. In this administration, the achievement is overshadowed by Afghanistan, Iraq, and India, and possibly will be overshadowed by changes in Palestine, Iran, North Korea, and Syria/Lebanon.
Posted by: Kevin Colwell at April 19, 2005 3:44 AMYet another example of how nuclear weapons make the world a more peaceful place.
Posted by: Ben Lange at April 19, 2005 11:02 AMYou know that guys have won the Nobel Peace Prize for less than this. What are the odds that Bush will even be nominated? 50 to 1 against?
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at April 19, 2005 6:08 PM