By Aasish Bapat

The first things that come to mind when discussing India are its history and its distinguishing culture. Historically, India has been a meeting place for the East and the West, and consequently an invader's paradise: the Persians, Portuguese, French, and of course the British have all taken advantage of this. Nonetheless, India continues to keep its culture intact from outsiders. Today, however, a sovereign India faces severe problems from within and from outside the country. Unfortunately, India's greatest threat comes from her neighbor Pakistan, which has long shared in the region's rich culture.

India achieved independence on August 15th, 1947, but it came at a great cost. Not only did India lose thousands of young freedom fighters against the British rule, but she also had to face the horrifically gruesome partition from Pakistan. This was one of the bloodiest events in world history, in which more than hundred thousand innocents were murdered simply for religious intolerance.

Kashmir issue. Kashmir, a place which has often been compared to paradise, is under constant terrorist infiltration from across the border, and is now a place where you can be hit by a bullet or struck by an explosion at any given time.

The core of this issue is that both countries claim ownership of Kashmir. Pakistan believes Kashmir should be theirs due to the Muslim majority, while India believes that Kashmir belongs to them because the King of Kashmir signed a treaty giving Kashmir to independent India. Further complicating the issue, the native Kashmiris who are fed up with all the violence want to be an independent state. The situation got really tense in December 2001 when a Pakistani-based terrorist group attacked the Indian parliament house, which almost led into a full-fledged war between India and Pakistan. That both countries have nuclear weaponry further intensifies the situation.

The major problem in finding a solution to the Kashmir issue has long been the political instability in Pakistan which has resulted in dictatorship. India has always held that it can only have a dialogue with an elected member of Pakistan, not a military dictator. Also, it has long been believed that the international community hasn’t done enough and has remained biased to Pakistan, mostly for strategic reasons. But after 9/11, the international community understood the threat of terrorism and made a conscious effort to coerce Pakistan to stop the infiltration in Kashmir and to pressure India into renouncing its stand so that a dialogue is possible to solve the situation.

After a long gap, both Indian and Pakistani leaders have agreed to participate in this dialogue. India has accepted the fact that Kashmir is the core issue and has agreed to have a dialogue with General Musharraf. Pakistan has also made an effort by moving all the potential militant training camps in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (POK) away from the line of control, which has significantly curbed the infiltration of Kashmir. Furthermore, both countries have made progress by releasing some prisoners and by making scholarships available to the students of both nations. In addition, the bus and rail routes between the two countries have been reopened. Ultimately, there is promise that this long-standing problem can be resolved, contingent upon both parties' continuing efforts to be flexible and diplomatic with each other.