Rajesh Bysani

I sent this letter yesterday to The Guardian, frustrated by their "both-siding" re the India-Pakistan war. Doubt they'll publish it. If Kashmir remains a flashpoint for potential nuclear escalation, it isn’t because India or its government wants this. India is a highly digitalised and fast-growing economy that seeks prosperity for its people. Peace in the region is important for that. In all but the most recent instance mentioned by you, Indian leadership - be it Atal Bihari Vajpayee or our current Prime Minister Narendra Modi - has made sincere efforts to build bridges with Pakistan. Yet, time and again, those overtures have been derailed by terrorist attacks on Indian soil, by terrorists trained in and/or by Pakistan. It is not India that has sent gunmen across the border to target civilians. Nor does India enable or provide sanctuary to those who have carried out mass killings in another country. Over the past decade, India has chosen to focus inward, on building infrastructure, digitising its economy, and building global partnerships, rather than letting its development be held hostage to its neighbours provocations. That is why the false equivalence drawn between India and Pakistan in parts of the Western press is deeply frustrating. India has been repeatedly targeted by terrorism and is then told to exercise restraint. If attacks like those in Mumbai in 2008 or Pahalgam in 2025 had happened in New York would the response have been any different? History tells us it won't. Why should India be expected to do less? The onus lies with Pakistan to stop providing a safe haven for terrorists targeting India, and moving beyond the Kashmir fixation. India has moved forward. It is time Pakistan did too, for its own sake, and that of the region.