The Neighbour Side -- Visit to Pakistan High Commission

Following the trails of blood-stained partition and series of contentious wars with Pakistan, our relations are always punctured with suspect and prejudiced ideas. We are constantly obsessed with the insecurity from our neighbour. Keeping the bunch of same ideas in mind i entered into the spacious campus of Pakistan High Commission. From the beginning it was experiencing some sort of distension on my mind, perhaps because i was on the land of our neighbour which was notorious because of its terrorist deeds and projected as India's number one (China?) Enemy.

We were warmly welcomed by the retinue of junior level officers and some junior diplomats of High Commission. They took us to the conference room where all other members are waiting for us. This positive gesture helps me to reduce my anxiety level. A chief coordinator addressed a small introductory speech and gave us brief introduction about Pakistan High Commission and its working methodologies. After this a small documentary was demonstrated by them. Documentary is all about the progressive Pakistan it was first blow to my predetermined concepts about Pakistan.

After the screening of documentary Pakistan High Commission's chief statesman entered into conference hall with pleasant smile on this face. He shakes his hand with every student present in the hall. It was definitely different and positive indication that chief ambassador of Pakistan took cognizance of us. It was second blow for me.

This interaction was the first interactive session for Mr. Abdul Bashir because just a week ago he was transferred from Europe to India. He initiates his dialogue with pointing out the exact doubtful perceptions hanging around our mind. He was well aware with the Pakistan's notorious image, how Pakistan is considered as a failed nation, how Pakistan is criticised for its terrorist activities and his suspicious role in Jammu and Kashmir.

After acknowledging our ideas about neighbours he started to sketch then new picture of Pakistan which was totally new to us. It was other side of the wall which was unknown to us. It was entirely new prism for us through which we are looking at our neighbour. Some interesting facts were put by him which we can’t deny.e.g. Pakistan was ahead of China and India in economic development but the ghosts of terrorism and flood of Indus River in the year 2009 and 2010 ruined the Pakistan economy. Like India Pakistan itself facing the problem terrorism every day. Pakistan government is conscious about the challenges in front of them. Mr. Abdu was also very optimistic about the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. He said "it’s the right time for the new beginning for India and Pakistan's bilateral relationship with new vision". He also cleverly emphasizes that Jammu & Kashmir conflict is the main hurdle in In-Pak relation and without solving Jammu & Kashmir issue we can’t move further.

Multifaceted questions were asked to him by my pals pertaining to different areas such as cursed situation of Hindus in Pakistan, most favoured Nation status for India, unstable democracy in Pakistan etc. All these questions are answered very eloquently and diplomatically. Indeed the answers are not at all Convincing but helpful to understand the other side. Mr. Abdul's skill full arguments and logical arrangement of points was definitely praiseworthy. It was a good lesson for those who are interested in International relations and foreign relations.

An informal session with tea and snacks was also arranged after this. Many officers from High Commission were participated in the discussions. All these officers are very curious to know about our course about our city and our experience in Delhi. One thing i must have to appreciate here about the hospitality of Pakistan High Commission. I was completely overwhelmed by it.

This article is incomplete without one small but meaningful incident happened in High commission which changed my notion about our neighbour i.e. Pakistan. In our Delhi tour many national international institutions were visited by us. Everywhere we were confronted by heavy security checking and indeed it is very routine protocol but when we went to visit Pakistan High Commission we were not confronted by even a single security post.

It was the final blow for me and for my perceptions about Pakistan.