Real Friendship with India | Jinnah's Pakistan

Real Friendship with India

Jinnah's Ideals

“Under your guidance - I hope - will come real friendship between the two Dominions. It is no less essential to India than to Pakistan.”

- Mr. Jinnah / Quaid-e-Azam

- Context: Congratulated Rajgopal Achari on his appointment as Governor General of India

Deeper reflections

History has shown us many geographical tracts, much smaller than the sub-continent of India, which otherwise might have been called one country, but which have been divided into as many states as there are nations inhabiting them. The Balkan Peninsula comprises as many as seven or eight sovereign states. Likewise, the Portuguese and the Spanish stand divided in the Iberian Peninsula.

Muslims are a nation according to any definition of a nation, and they have acquired their homelands, their territory, and their state. After having achieved Pakistan, we wish to live in peace and harmony with our neighbors as a free and independent people. We wish our people to develop to the fullest our spiritual, cultural, economic, social, and political life, in a way that we think best and in consonance with our own ideals and according to the genius of our people. Honesty demands that we find, and the vital interests of millions of our people impose a sacred duty upon us to find, an honorable and peaceful relationship with India, which would be just and fair to all.

Bold and wise political imagination will direct towards cooperation, peace and greater economic connectivity between Pakistan and India. World-history is replete with examples of nation-states that were carved out of the same continent and have cordial and strong ties, e.g. United States and Canada.

When the first US ambassador to Pakistan, Mr. Paul Alling, asked Mr. Jinnah what kind of Pakistan-India relations he wished to see, Mr. Jinnah replied: “An association similar to that between the US and Canada.” Let's examine the American-Canadian relationship below:

To script the triumph of peace over war:

Our national will is to demonstrate that the partition does not need to translate into a perpetual state of violence.

The citizens of each nation will pressure their governments that the dividends of peace in terms of reallocating the military budget towards education and health are far greater than fuming the fans of war.

The necessity of peace is a real force and will manifest itself as the original destiny of a badly administered, violent partition. A cataclysmic partition that entailed the migration of millions of people was forged, without plans of organizing, facilitating and managing the logistics of the partition by the British raj. Conducting such a large-scale operation meant investing and allocating large amounts of capital and resources -- the British objective focused on a hasty, low-cost transfer of power and preservation of a declining empire, it was never about the welfare of the Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis and other inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent. Such were the rules of the game, anarchy and violence were predictable outcomes from all possible scenarios of the British transfer of power. The savagery, mob frenzy and anarchy exhibited by all communities in India during the partition, is a constant reminder and historic lesson to temper emotions with reason, build a more friendly regional tone, develop people-to-people connection and promote empathy for each other regardless of race, caste, religion, language and other diverse characteristics.

Now 70+ years have passed since the partition, that is all history. The forward-looking people of Pakistan have the firm resolve and conviction that future peace and order will emerge from a chaotic and violent past.

The recent Russian aggression against Ukraine in Mar'22, awakened the world to the territorial ambitions of larger powers against their smaller neighbors. This power equation holds true between China and Taiwan, Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan and other countries across the globe. A random violent act by a non-state actor in Kashmir is likely to happen due to predictable resistance from Kashmiri civilians in response to the brutal oppression by Indian military, and one random incident can easily trigger a deadly war between India and Pakistan. Kashmir problem of self-determination ought to be solved, the whole world is at stake.

Members of the Indian cricket team snap a picture with Pakistan's Bisma Maroof and her child after the Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Bay Oval in Tauranga on March 6'22. Cricket diplomacy and connectivity through sport is an effective avenue to build stronger ties.

Former Indian Cricket Captain Kapil Dev with Former Pakistani Cricket Captain and current Prime Minister Imran Khan - both are responsible for leading their national teams to win their first Cricket World Cup and are good friends on and off the field.

Fawad Khan from Pakistan and Deepika Padukone from India walking the ramp for Indian fashion designer Manish Malhotra

Indian actor Shahrukh Khan with Pakistani celebrity Mahira Khan in blockbuster film "Raees"

Mr. Jinnah and Mr. Gandhi sharing a friendly moment. Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi’s tolerance for Muslims and Pakistan. This extreme Hindu ideology that killed Gandhi has now manifested itself in the current BJP government in India.

March 9th, 2022: A supersonic projectile from India traveling at 40,000 feet covered over 250 km & landed inside Pakistani territory. It has taken more than 2 days for India to accept that this was their missile launched ostensibly due to a technical malfunction during maintenance.

Moeed W. Yusuf, National Security Advisor of Pakistan, stated "It is hard to believe anything this Indian government says. Therefore, the real circumstances surrounding this incident must also be investigated to ascertain if this was an inadvertent launch or something more intentional. Regardless, the world must remove its blinders about Indian state’s behavior within its country, its diplomatic direction, & its disregard for the need for peace & stability in its neighborhood. The world must treat this incident with the urgency, sensitivity & alarm it deserves."

No casualties were reported. And that, so far, has been the end of the matter — a subdued aftermath that many saw as nothing short of a small miracle.

Pakistani personnel examine what were identified as the remains of the Indian missile. We will hope for the best but prepare for the worst, we have to be ready for all eventualities.

Imran Khan, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, addresses the general debate of the 74th Session of the General Assembly of the UN (New York, 24 – 30 September 2019)