British debate on Kashmir

Finally, the British politics is once again abuzz with Kashmir. a British parliamentarian is moved a petition for a special debate in the British parliament and the petition is backed by 40 out of 640 MPs. The Kashmiri groups and individuals who support the restoration of right to self-determination in Kashmir should not belittle the fresh Western focus over Kashmir by their shallow speechifying. But the separatist groups may once again congratulate themselves for the world’s “renewed” focus over Kashmir dispute. Yet, little do they understand that the Western engagement with Kashmir has always been subordinate to its business interests with India. The debate over human rights violations, presence of 600,000 armed forces and the threat to Kashmir’s sub-national identity will shortly take place in the House of Commons. The backdrop of this “renewed” focus on Kashmir may not be lost on India’s newly appointed policy gurus.  The debate will happen in the context of India’s assertion at World Trade Organization and her tough bargain with European business partners. Contrary to the expectations that the reform-minded Modi would extravagantly open up the whole country for FDI, the new government has been, so far, a tough negotiator on business front. Barely a week after Modi assumed office, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Finance Minister George Osborne dashed to Mumbai on a two-day visit for talks with their counterparts. The pair also met with the Prime Minister Modi, who had already raised hopes for foreign investors with his pledges to open up the stumbling economy and spur investment. Reports suggest a hectic haggling is going on over various business proposals including some defense deals. British and German governments are still ruing India’s Rs. 3000 Crore deal with France that would sell its special Rifale jet fighters to the country. India and the UK, interestingly, have a trade relationship which is approximately $15.8 billion (9600 Crore rupees). Such a cumulative backdrop is likely to bring up sharper Western spotlights over Kashmir. We may also hear more voices from Europe and the U.S., advocating Kashmiris’ aspirations. The advocates of Kashmiri rights would do well by restraining their excitement because the world powers never intervene out of humanitarian concerns; the disputes have always served as bargain chips for big powers. That is not to say India doesn’t need to worry. The British parliament’s Kashmir debate, which is being peddled by the Bradford East MP David Ward should end the policy of tell-don’t-do, which has been the hallmark of the Congress regimes. How can India stop the Western powers from using Kashmir as a political bludgeon in order to extract economic concessions ? There is only one answer but there are two approaches. The answer is by settling the Kashmir issue once and for all. The official approach to this remedy is that Kashmir problem will go by using military muscle and official intrigue, buying out individuals and integrating Kashmir through social assimilation. The non-government approach, however, is to sincerely acknowledge the problem and find ways to solve it.  The later approach is best suited to the business-loving Modi regime, which has promised radical urbanization with hundred new cities by 2020. This approach will not just make India’s business deals with the West free from blackmail, it will also set off an era of undisturbed growth, which in India is often threatened by the fear of internal conflict, whether in Kashmir or elsewhere.      

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