India no longer Pakistan8217;s main enemy: Sherry Rehman

Rehman was delivering a 'Distinguished Speaker Series' lecture at Jamia Milia Islamia.

India is no longer seen as 8220;principal enemy8221; by Pakistan,where internal changes are mitigating old anxieties,and there has been a 8220;fundamental course correction8221; on resolving long pending issues,a former Pakistan minister said here today. 8220;There has been a change in mood in Pakistan today,where internal changes are shaping policies,mitigating old anxieties and India is no longer the principal enemy,8221; Pakistan8217;s former Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman said.

She,however,cautioned that years of 8220;accumulated animosities8221; being reflected by media may endanger future of both the countries.8221;8230;it is not while society says what we hear in conversations,reflected and refracted through media8230;.years of accumulating animosities,and that endanger our future more than anything else,8221; Rehman,who was also Pakistan8217;s ambassador to US,said. Delivering a 8216;Distinguished Speaker Series8217; lecture at the Jamia Milia Islamia,she stressed on the need for 8220;political will8221; to resolve long-pending issues though the military establishments of both countries see each other with suspicion.

8220;We bring too many conditions to our table8230;we must have them,its unrealistic to pretend otherwise8230;there has to be point where we talk about political will. 8220;Pakistan is seeking to change this equation,at least for the last five years8230; that is continuing both at the level of society and the state. There also has been a fundamental course correction at the strategic and at the state level,8221; she said. In the course of her lecture on Rehman also asserted the 8220;key role8221; India and Pakistan could play in shaping the future of South Asia.

8220;South Asian region is ripe with short,medium and long term tranformations8230;and there are opportunities if we can seek to imagine as the penultimate South Asian moment..because there clearly is a moment8230;it is a question of whether we want to leverage it or miss it8230; 8220;And,both India and Pakistan have key roles to play in this transition. How South Asia can imagine its future as let me assure you that the rest of the world has stopped imagining South Asia,8221; she said. The former Pakistan minister also called for a change in the dynamics of the bilateral relations,saying both the countries should come out of the cold war politics and the 8220;tired posturing of hyper nationalism8221;. Referring to the 8220;transitions8221; that are on in the three Asian neighbours,she said,8221;Pakistan,first completed its successful constitutional transfer of power8230; India too is going into elections in less than a year. And,Afghanistan is also experiencing multiple transitions and many layer of change and the region.8221;

8220;Other Asian nations are also asking because those regions are also overshadowed by this conflict and the elephant and the gorilla are in the room,India and Pakistan. And,even on fundamental levels our societies are in deeper transitions -social,political,demographic and security transitions,8221; she said.