I have been watching these forums and Indian and Pakistani posters always seem to be at war on here. If Pakistan and India get together there will be economic stability for Pakistan as well as internal.
Pakistan cannot sustain this hate against India, Pakistan need to change their stance but the change needs a cultural change. I am nether Pakistani or Indian, so I have no horses in this race.
You guys need to work it out by yourselves.
Dear Friend, as an outsider this is exactly how you are supposed to feel. India is a larger country with a growing economy so yes being friend with India will be beneficial for Pakistan according to an outsider's prospective.
But all is not how it seems. Having friendly relations with India has its benefits but costs as well. And it is not just Pakistan, India is not really thrilled about having friendly relations with us either.
As I see it there are three ways to achieve peace in South Asia.
1.
India somehow manages to break Pakistan into 3 or 4 smaller countries who are ready to toe Indian line in strategic matters, basically 3 or 4 new Bangladeshs on India's western borders. But India has to manage that without facing the full brunt of Pakistani nuclear weapons, otherwise there will be no south Asia to have peace in. So this option is not viable.
2.
Pakistan accepts that India as an overlord, the dominant force in the region that we can't compete with and accept their hegemony, forfeit Kashmir, give access to India to Afghanistan. The problem with this approach is that it will mean death of Pakistan ideology. The thing is the only reason we got a separate state from Hindu majority India was that we were not ready to live under Hindu hegemony once the British left. If we still accept their hegemony then what is the point of existence of Pakistan. We should wrap it up and join India.
3.
Pakistan becoming a major economic power. Currently Pakistani economy is about 8-9 times smaller than that of India, naturally our defense budget is 5-6 smaller as well. On one hand this makes India believe that they can and should put us in our place and make us accept them as Big Brother in the region. On the other this disparity makes India an existential threat to Pakistan, and hence you see us sometimes indulging in Asymmetric warfare or building tactical nuclear stockpile to even the odds.
If Pakistani GDP grows at 15% and in a couple of decades and this disparity is reduced to 1/4 instead of current 1/8, then i) India will accept Pakistan as a major player, a rival instead of an enemy, similar to a China-India relationship. ii) With a larger defense budget Pakistan will be able to equip its conventional armed forces to a point where India no longer seems as an existential threat. Hence the reliance on nuclear weapons or asymmetric warfare will be reduced and we will have peace in the region.
Then both countries will see the benefits a friendship can bring to their countries and will open up. But until then there will always be tension and hatred in our part of the world.
