Day and night cannot dwell together and similarly, the contenders of the East, who have had an unpleasant history involving heavy casualties, have been keeping their distance. Stemming from incidents in history, till date many have borne witness to the situation between India and Pakistan which many say have shown no signs of settling. Or have they? On 9th March 2022, such an incident occurred that could either make or break the already weak ties between the two countries.
On this day, the Brahmos medium-range cruise missile was fired from Sirsa, India landing in Pakistan’s eastern city of Mian Channu due to a technical malfunction. Fortunately, this missile, lacking a warhead, did not detonate. The matter, however, was extremely pressing since it held the chance of causing immense damage and loss of life. Pakistan, in response, was preparing to launch its own missile as a sign of retaliation but held back as it realized something was amiss. The Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh assured those concerned that the government was taking a myriad of procedures to investigate the cause of the accidental firing. Pakistan, too, called for an investigation into the incident as they proved lucky that the missile did not prove disastrous. Additionally, they warned India to be mindful of the harsh consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations. The fact that Pakistan did not immediately retaliate is a beacon of hope for the ties between the two nations have been at a historic low especially since 2019, when innumerable soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. India responded to this incident by launching airstrikes in Pakistan's Balakot, which was followed by an aerial dogfight between the neighbours. Indeed, these two nuclear weapon countries have dealt with the recent misfiring in a much more mature manner. This is a sure sign that the flame between India and Pakistan is dying and the ties between them are strengthening.
Political rivalry between nations is menacing and accompanied by adverse effects. Why, if the rivalry between these two countries was extreme, a nuclear war could have begun. If political rivalries ceased to exist, tremendous opportunities for growth would surface. Race, religion, caste and creed should not be treated as petty barriers but respected for, “Individuality makes us different, but respect brings us together.”
Exchange of peace and co-operation between India and Pakistan
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