Islamabad, August 10(ANI): Pakistan must normalise its relations with India and let economic activity and trade flourish in the region by opening up its borders in order to become a part of growing prosperity in Asia, a distinguished US investigative journalist and highly acclaimed author has said.
"Pakistan's future depends on strengthening civilian and the economic sectors of the country. The only way to break this pattern of internal violence and self-defeating policies is to open up the economy," Steve Coll, the president and CEO of the New America Foundation and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, told the Dawn in an exclusive interview.
"Pakistan has to benefit from the transformation and the economic growth that has so much changed India, for example. Once that growth clicks, then the balance of power inside Pakistan will change," he added.
Coll noted that Pakistan lives on the edge of a neighbourhood that is entering an age of transformation and success, and that it has an opportunity to become a part of that prosperity.
"This can happen only if Pakistan normalises its relations with India and let economic activity and trade flourish in that region by opening up its borders. Pakistan has the talent and the human capital to benefit from the Asian century. An economic change will ultimately put these arguments about the ISI, the army and corrupt politicians in the dustbin of the history," he added.
Coll stressed that it would not be about personalities or wishing for great politicians, adding that Pakistan does have sources of strength- such as a talented business sector, professional diaspora and a strong media- to overcome its challenges.
"There have been a lot of countries with similar terrible situations of civil- military conflict, corruption, internal violence, separatist movements and drug smuggling. For instance, Columbia in late 1990s looked like a hopeless case. Today, it is a pretty healthy country. Indonesia was about to fall apart in late 1990s after three civil wars... Only twelve years later, today Indonesia is full of shopping malls; it has a large middle class and its stock exchange is performing very well. How did that happen? It could be possible only because of the economic growth," he pointed out. (ANI)
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