Much has been written and lamented about the failure of the international community to cough up the resources needed to come to Pakistan's aid in order to help with the flood relief effort. India, being a neighbor has been expected to contribute to the relief effort, and in our enthusiasm to be of aid to our whimsical neighbor, India has offered to route the relief material it sends across through the UN, instead of the logistically more appropriate bilateral support we could offer. This, of course, is a reaction to the Pakistani reluctance to be seen as taking aid from arch-enemy India. Oh, the ignominy, Pakistan! Of course, every humanitarian bone in my body screams, gush forth with all you have, India. However, having studied health policy at no less than the Harvard School of Public Health (yes, this blog may one day double up as my CV), I can think of a more devious, and hence, better strategy that India may pursue.
The war India fights in Kashmir is not a war of choice. It's a war foisted upon her by mischievous elements outside of our borders. Once an externally propelled war, it has now grown to be an externally supported war, with the secessionist movement in Kashmir having taken an alarmingly local character. Of course, the ISI is always seen to lord over all that things militant in Kashmir, and for good reason, but the breakout of violence, and the brazen rejections of Indian calls for dialogue by some leaders of the Kashmiri people only indicate that India only holds Kashmir militarily. The people of Kashmir increasingly view India as an oppressor and an occupying force. India is losing the battle for the soul of Kashmir.
Floods, hundreds of miles away, could change things. India has the economic and logistic clout to be able to be of immensely greater assistance to the people affected by the floods than the insipid Pakistani government ever could. India should ask for its pound of flesh, though. And my proposed pound of flesh won't leave the Pakistani people with a hole in their gut.
India should insist that the aid that is delivered to Pakistan is called what it is- Aid from India. I always appreciate the tag-line of USAID-A gift from the American people. Let the 5 million dollars of aid that India offers to Pakistan be called that- a gift from the Indian people. If we're indeed calling it that, I would suggest, let's give much more than that to Pakistan. In fact, let's pay for this entire relief operation. Let's go in and fill the void that the Pakistani government has failed to do. Before you accuse me of blind brotherhood, let me assert that my suggestion is rooted in explicit self-interest.
India spends the equivalent of more than 20 billion dollars on defense activities. Of course, most of this expenditure goes into thwarting the threat of cross-border terrorism perpetrated quite admittedly, by Pakistan. There are elements within Pakistan whose existence is merely to perpetuate the bad-India story. This is the story that wins them recruits to their cause of cross-border and even global terrorism. Imagine what it would do for their PR campaign if the food cans their recruits ate out of said "A gift from the people of India". I'm not saying it will work for sure, but the next time an Ajmal Kasab has to pull a trigger, he'll know he won't be firing at an oppressive ogre, but somebody who helped put baked beans on his plate during a bleak time. And that may just make the difference.
The right thing for India to do now is to help Pakistan, in whatever way we can. However, making our contribution anonymous would be a strategic mistake in the name of self-sacrifice. Instead, India should stand up and be counted. India should tell the Pakistani people that when they were at their weakest, the Indian people came to their aid. That will save many more Indian lives than it does Pakistani.
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