The Pakistan Challenge - Dealing with a dysfunctional neighbour
| Meeting Date | 29 Jul 2024 |
| Meeting Time | 19:30:00 |
| Location | Online |
| Meeting Type | Regular |
| Meeting Topic | The Pakistan Challenge - Dealing with a dysfunctional neighbour |
| Meeting Agenda | Weekly Meeting of RCPS jointly with RCP Sahawas |
| Chief Guest | Mr. Ajay Bisaria Former High Commissioner Of India to Pakistan |
| Club Members Present | 35 |
| Minutes of Meeting | His Excellency Ajay Bisaria On 29th July we had the first Online and Joint meeting of the year with Rotary Club of Pune Sahawas. We had the privilege to listen to His Excellency Ajay Basaria, former High Commissioner of India to Canada and Pakistan. He served as the High Commissioner of India to Canada from March 2020 to June 2022. Earlier, he served as High Commissioner of India to Pakistan from December 2017 to February 2020. His topic for the address was : The Pakistan Challenge – Dealing with a dysfunctional neighbor. The meeting was called to order by Pres Rtn Bharati with Jana Gana Mana……. After observing a minute silence for our departed former Ann beloved Mandatai Inamdar, and after completing the Rotary business, Rtn Vijay Gokhale introduced the guest speaker former High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria. HE Hon. Bisaria Sir in his address mentioned that there is a structural problem with Pakistan. Since its independence in 1947, Pakistan has been directly ruled by its army establishment for 33 years and indirectly for the remaining years. This has resulted in the lack of development and policy initiatives in Pakistan. Today the country is going through a huge policy crisis – economic, security and political crisis. No reforms have been done in Pakistan which is on the verge of a collapse. India is keenly watching this situation unfold, but an unstable Pakistan is not in the interest of India. He said that Pakistan, which initially sponsored terrorism is itself now under the grip of terrorism. The proxy warfare which the country launched against India has also gone out of the establishment’s control in Pakistan. Unable to take a tough stand against terrorism by Pakistan, India has suspended any talks with them till they deal with the terrorism. Terrorism and talks can't go hand in hand is India’s stand. Answering to a question from the audience regarding the breakup of Pakistan provinces into four smaller countries – Sind, Gilgit Pakistan , Khyber Paktunkhwa and Baluchistan, as speculated by the media, Shri Ajay ji mentioned that the chances of such a thing happening are very slim, but India is readying itself for any eventuality. Such a breakup of Pakistan will bring more instability in the region and would be a dangerous situation as the nuke arsenal in Pakistan will be in the hands of militants from these provinces and difficult to deal with. Talking about the India – US relationship, he said it is getting stronger as both the countries are betting on each other to counter the China Challenge. This has become a cause of worry for Pakistan. India is getting closer to US as well as Russia balancing their relationships across the world. Bisaria Sir also talked about the Agra summit between Prime Minister Vajpayee and Pakistan President Gen Musharraf. He narrated the reason for the failure of the summit stating that the summit was held in haste without the background preparations. About his experiences in his tenure in Pakistan, he mentioned that his stay in Pakistan was the most interesting in his career in the foreign services. He had the opportunity to interact with the Pakistani Statesmen, Heads of Government, Military establishment and the Elite Pak citizens. The Pakistan citizens have a lot of respect and goodwill for the Indians. The hatred for India which is seen in the political and military class is definitely missing amongst the common people of Pakistan. The 100 + participants in this online meeting were glued to their screens to listen to HE Ajay Bisaria. We thank Rtn Vijay for getting such a distinguished personality to address us. The meeting was attended by Pres Rtn Nivedita Mulay, Hon Secr. Rtn.Vivek Joshi and many members from Rotary Club of Pune Sahawas. Rtn Purushottam Mulay from RC Pune Sahawas proposed a vote of thanks. |
