Round The World

New Delhi, 22 December 2023

The New Kashmir

AN INTERNATIONAL IMPERATIVE

By Prof. (Dr.) D.K. Giri

(Secretary General, Assn for Democratic Socialism) 

A day-long conference with an instructive theme “Strengthening international investment in Kashmir”, was held on 19 December New Delhi. It was co-hosted by Indian Economic Trade Organisation (IETO) and Kashmir Central. There were two major panel discussions; one on the political conditions prevailing in the state after abrogation of Article 370 and the second was rebuilding the economy by “strengthening international investments”. The latter which I happened to chair is the focus of this piece. 

A couple of words about the organisers, IETO is a private entrepreneurial agency in promoting Indian trade abroad and facilitating international investment into India from across the world. It is indeed a dynamic and vibrant organisation engaged in almost all the economic zones of the world – South Asia, Africa, Latin America, West Asia, Europe and the Pacific. It has taken up the cause of Kashmir in terms of raising awareness of the business community in India and abroad in the immense potential of the state in absorbing huge investment in multiple sectors. 

Kashmir Central is a weekly magazine from the Valley which has been working for laying out a genuine and authentic narrative in the state. In the recently published book, “Kashmir: The War of Narratives” the author, who is the editor of the journal talks about how false narratives have harmed the people in the Valley and India as a country. 

The conference sought to eliminate the mismatch between politics and economy in India’s foreign policy. I have talked about it for years since it came out glaringly in my research on the European Union in India 30 years ago. The research has resulted in a book titled ‘The European Union and India: A Study in North-South Relations’. India’s trade deficit was more than 60 per cent with the European Union, yet India did not have a robust policy towards Europe. India’s foreign policy was centred on Pakistan, Soviet Union (Russia) and China, all because of a tenuous security situation in Kashmir. 

Quite a few Kashmiris also suffered from an overriding mindset of confusion over its affiliation to India or Pakistan, at the heavy cost of their economic growth and development. Let me illustrate it with an anecdote. A few years ago, I escorted a delegation of companies led by Scandinavian consulting agency called Rud Pedersen Public Affairs Company. It is fairly a big agency which has just employed the former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Loven as its consultant. 

At the end of the Kashmir visit, a press-meet was organised in the Press Club in Srinagar. As the head of the delegation, Morten Pedersen was sharing his ideas of possible investment by the companies in the state. A journalist stood up to ask about the opinion of Pedersen on Kashmir’s geographical location, whether it should be a part of India or Pakistan! As it was an irrelevant question to an inappropriate person, Pedersen hesitated to answer. I stepped in to snub the journalist, “the delegation is here to explore investment and job creation etc, the status of Kashmir was not their concern”. The journalist should stop harping on the political issue which had to be settled by the Indian state. 

That said, the conference in its two sessions on politics and economy sought to solve the dichotomy by addressing both the sectors. In the politics session addressed by eminent and experienced panellists, the overwhelming opinion was that Parliament endorsed by the Supreme Court has completed the process of integration of Kashmir into India. Any doubt on its belongingness was laid to rest forever. The Kashmiris, even those with a separatist mindset, have reconciled to the reality. Now it was time to build a new narrative in the country and abroad. 

The ruling BJP’s narrative is that Kashmir was ruled by three families – Indira Gandhi’s, Sheikh Abdullah’s and Mufti’s. These families used Kashmir for their own vested interests. Internationally, the ‘Islam in danger’ narrative and Pakistan-Turkey connivance fed the mindset of militants, Mullahs and extremist Islamists subscribing to revivalism. It was also recalled that the Kashmir issue had weighed heavily on India’s foreign policy because of its geo-political and religious importance. 

The economy of the state was discussed in great depth by speakers from the bureaucracy, business, academia and civil society. The focus was on building infrastructure for IT, tourism and other traditional sectors of economy. Tourism, as is well known has the greatest potential. A tourism expert as well as a practitioner from Nepal presented a new tourist map connecting the beautiful spots in the Himalaya corridor spreading from Nepal to Ladakh and Sikkim and Srinagar, and emphasised that tourism creates grassroots economy by catering to all sections of society from the state bodies down to the grassroots like Tongawalla and street shopkeepers. 

On innovative tourism, he quoted Dr. Karan Singh, the scion of the royal family that was at the helm when Kashmir acceded to India. The Home Minister Amit Shah said in Parliament that in 2022, 1 crore 80 lakh tourists visited the Valley. On law and order, the violence has conspicuously reduced. A stable law and order is a pre-condition for any big investment. 

On global investment in Kashmir, Indian foreign policy should make it a top priority. It has so far dealt with Kashmir as a security issue. Now that the dust has settled in, it should promote Kashmir as an economic imperative. The Valley has immense potential. Foreign companies would like to invest in the state for its cold climate, natural beauty and a large segment of youth population. Kashmiris are good with their hands. If resources and infrastructure are made available, they would create wonders. 

From the security point of view, presence of foreign companies in the Valley should also draw in international support for the stability of the state. The investing countries would naturally protect their business interests. Trouble-mongering countries like Pakistan would not dare sponsor terrorism anymore. Let us not forget that Pakistan was using military resources provided by other countries against India. 

Kashmir is a perfect case for blending security with the economy, trade and diplomacy, and for shifting the focus from politics to economy. At the end of the day, as James Carivilley, the strategist of Bill Clinton said in 1992, which has become universally popular on the critical importance of economic strength, “It is the economy, stupid”. ---INFA 

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)