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Kashmir conflict will last for 100
years, says Cohen
Tuesday May 31, 2011 05:53:35 PM,
IANS
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Jammu: A leading
American expert on South Asia feels that the India-Pakistan
conflict over Jammu and Kashmir will last for 100 years -- or
perhaps even more.
Stephen P. Cohen, author of "The Idea of Pakistan" and a senior
Fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, told the
Pakistani newspaper Dawn: "My prediction is that the
India-Pakistan conflict, which includes Kashmir besides many other
problems, will last for 100 years or even more."
"I am very pessimistic about a solution between the two countries.
They should cooperate over trade, for instance. Kashmir will
eventually find its way (to a solution).
"The US should have only a silent role which should be limited to
providing ideas and suggestions as we often do in the Middle East
peace process."
Cohen said he was writing a book about the India-Pakistan rivalry
and that he would call it a "hundred year old war".
He was asked if the Pakistan Army can ever overcome its obsession
with India and how the US can help the two countries resolve their
dragging row over Jammu and Kashmir, which is divided between
them.
Cohen said the Pakistan Army was today more anti-American than
radical. He traced the radicalisation of the Pakistan Army to the
days of the movement which led to the break up of East Pakistan
and the birth of Bangladesh.
That was when the army recruited people for outfits such as Al
Badar and its death squads.
This, Cohen said, became more systematic during the regime of
Zia-ul-Haq both in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
"Now, it is a full-fledged strategic alliance for the Pakistan
military."
Cohen also felt that the Pakistani Army was more anti-American
than anti-India.
"It has become more anti-American. Some sections of the army are
more anti-American than they are anti-India.
"The obsession with India, on the other hand, is weakening
Pakistan rather than strengthening it. Pakistan has a huge list of
reforms that it should have made."
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