Pakistan Should Open Itself Up to India
By Aakar Patel for Firstpost
India and Pakistan have a reciprocal relationship. If one does something to the other, send back a spying diplomat for instance, the other imitates this and also sends one back. One countryâs visa regime mirrors the otherâs. We would rather harm ourselves by an act that is imitative than let the other side get away.
The world sees this behaviour as childish, perhaps rightly.
India acted maturely in opening up trade unilaterally a few years ago. This is why the shelves of Thomâs Cafe and Bakery, where I shop for groceries in Bangalore, are filled with Shan Masala boxes.
Now an opportunity exists for Pakistan to take the lead.
Islamabad should open up its borders and give Indian tourists visas on arrival. The same conditions under which Indians are allowed into Sri Lanka and Nepal and Bhutan. A quick stamp on the passport and thatâs it.
Vast crowds of Indians will come to Pakistan.
Sikhs on pilgrimage to Nankana Sahib and to see Ranjit Singhâs masoleum (totally empty when I went there 10 years ago) next to Lahore fort.
Hindus who want to see the Indus, after which their country is named, and their faith. Muslims and Hindus who want to visit Pak Pattan, Data Saheb, and the shrines of Rukn-e-Alam and Bahauddin Zakariya.
Pakistanis will be amazed by how many Hindus worship at Muslim shrines. Punjabis will come and see the cities of Lahore and Pindi, of which they have only heard about from their grandparents. Indiaâs wealthy Sindhi community will come to Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi.
Three Muslim communities â Memons, Bohras and Khojas â have their headquarters in India. They have family ties to Karachi and also business interests that will benefit from regular visits.
Deoband and Nadwa scholars can exchange views with Pakistanâs ulema.
The package tour business, which is big in India, will bring in large numbers who might see a Pakistan different from the one in their imagination. College and school excursions, which are also big in India, will find new venues to take their students to.
Bollywood will be interested in new settings to shoot, and access to the cities will open up plot-lines.
As an intelligent piece in The Friday Times a few years ago noted, Indian tourists will blend in, dress modestly, not expect too much, be at home with the food and do shopping on a healthy scale.
The exchange rate of the Pakistani Rupee, whose value is a little over half that of the Indian Rupee, will give them a bigger budget than they have at home.
The Hindu middle class, especially Bengali and Gujarati, are adventurous travellers and will not be easily put off by a couple of bomb blasts as westerners will. Because Indian women are not secluded, whole families will come, especially if non-airplane routes such as road and rail are opened. Pakistanis will not be threatened by middle aged Indian men and women with squealing kids about them.
It will not be possible, given the mischief in Mumbai and in Parliament, for India to freely let Pakistanis enter. So reciprocality must not be expected immediately. But that shouldnât be seen as a problem.
Pakistan has already accepted a break in the tit-for-tat relationship. Pakistanâs cricket team is likely to play in India while thereâs no chance that Indiaâs players will come to Pakistan. No other cricketing nation is willing either and so itâs not about Indian obstinacy in this case. Just the circumstances, which can be altered by a little wisdom.
Itâs a profitable opportunity for Pakistan to benefit economically, improve its image as a safe place and normalise relations with India. Three things gained while nothing is lost.
Pakistan should open itself up to Indians without waiting for reciprocity. And it should do this in self interest.
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