Happy border crossings

The announcement of a bus service between Amritsar and Lahore is a testament to the growing maturity in India-Pakistan relations. After the ...

The announcement of a bus service between Amritsar and Lahore is a testament to the growing maturity in India-Pakistan relations. After the recent meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and General Musharraf in New York, there had been some speculation that the peace process was losing momentum. This announcement should lay those rumours to rest. The proposed bus service is evidence that the peace process is driven as much by a people-to-people momentum as it is by government initiative. Indeed, the evidence of so many people-to-people exchanges during the course of the last year suggests that civil societies in both countries are more receptive to closer contacts than their political leadership often acknowledges.

As with most events in India-Pakistan relations, this announcement too comes laden with symbolism. The bus service will bridge the two Punjabs. It will further augment sentiments of 8216;8216;Punjabiyat8217;8217; that have been gathering goodwill and warmth on both sides of the border. From bonhomie at cricket matches to cultural meetings, Punjabiyat has been in happy evidence. But this is the first practical step to make the Punjabs more accessible to each other in a regular and systematic way. A self-conscious Punjabiyat, one that privileges a composite and complex regional culture over the binary divisions created by nations and religions, can help overcome the bitterness between the two countries. It is, therefore, particularly fitting that the bus will run on a new road named to honour Guru Nanak, a towering example of a life dedicated to overcoming division and rancour.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has always urged that we must work to make borders less relevant. The opening of this bus service is another significant step in that direction. No one should expect miracles in the India-Pakistan peace process. But such border crossings suggest a level of commitment to peace that is commendable.