Latent goodwill

Sir, - The treatment meted out to Indian fishermen and the hospitality they received in a Pakistani jail should serve as an eye-opener for assessing the potential for developing Indo-Pak relations.

When I went to Pakistan in 1994 on official duty, I was pleasantly surprised to experience goodwill for India. Our bilateral relations with Pakistan should be built upon this latent goodwill of the people of both countries for each other. We have to accept the ground realities of the complex internal situation and pulls and pressures of vested interests in Pakistan. Whether we like it or not, the Army and the mullahs will continue to have their firm grip till a stable and pragmatic civilian leadership emerges and stabilises itself. Till then we have to live with the rulers of our neighbour and deal with them.

The attempt to ostracise Pakistan and play the ``democracy card'' is not going to improve matters. Achieving some publicity-prone diplomatic victory may temporarily boost our ego but ultimately it will be hollow.

M. Ganapathy,

Namakkal (TN)

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