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- I have closely watched the Indo-Pak issue for over 50 years, and am dismayed to see that even after 60 years, it is no closer to resolution.
- My hunt brought me closer to one: the China-Taiwan relationship.
- While China and Taiwan claim to represent the same country, India and Pakistan don’t.
- So why is the China-Taiwan issue closer to a resolution? Simply because China has pursued a two-pronged approach towards Taiwan, which I would crudely summarise as follows: squeeze Taiwan politically in international politics, embrace Taiwan economically in cross-strait relations
- The China-Taiwan and Indo-Pak economic relationships are worth comparing. In both cases, for a long time trade and investment relations were discouraged. Yet, after China opened its economy to the world, it also welcomed Taiwanese investment and trade with Taiwan.
- India has given Pakistan most favoured nation (MFN) status. Pakistan hasn’t reciprocated.
- Just as the Chinese and Taiwanese share a common culture and language (Mandarin), so do Indians and Pakistanis (Hindi/ Urdu).
- After watching the constant political discomfort between India and Pakistan, I came to the conclusion that one practical step that both sides can take is to de-link the people-to-people links from official relations.
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Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
