Pak,USA,China,India - People-2-People not the same as Government-2-Government

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

When the nations interact, they form many levels of interaction. Two such interactions stand out. One interaction is People to People, and the other is Government to Government.

G2G or Government to government relationships are set in the form of treaties, agreements etc. etc. These treaties are signed for few years to few decades. But they change as the governments change.

P2P or People to People relationships on the other hand are purely formed on the basis of mutual respect or a lack thereof. If there is a people to people respect, then citizens of one country will not fear visiting the other country. However if the people to people respect is lost, the fear of the other nation develops and citizens of one country do not feel comfortable in the other.

Governments come and go, but people remain well! the same. Thus the people really carry long term relationships while the governments carry short term ones.

So here is the summary of how Pak, USA, China, and India fair in G2G and P2P. Also note how P2P impacts longer term trends in G2G relations.

  1. USA-China
    P2P - very good. Americans feel at ease while visiting China and Chinese feel safe enough to permanently settle in the USA. Americans feel safe to plan holidays in China.

G2G - good trade relations much more in favor of China, bad strategic relations, but China is very careful not to cross the Taiwan lines.

G2G relations over time - remain good and improving.

  1. India-USA
    P2P - very good. Americans feel safe (until Mumbai incident) and Indians feel safe enough to permanently settle in the USA. Americans feel safe to plan holidays in

G2G - very good. both trade and strategic relations match. Trade relations are much more in favor of India.

G2G relations over time - are becoming stronger with each passing year

  1. USA-Pakistan
    P2P - Very bad for Americans, reasonable for Pakistanis. Americans do not plan holiday vacations in Pakistan. Pakistanis feel safe enough to permanently settle in the USA.

G2G - good relations for both trade and aid. USA is the biggest trading partner. trade is much more in favor of Pakistan. Reasonable strategic relations (with few irritants). USA gets strategic position, while Pakistan gets aid and Pakistan gets most of high-tech weapons.

G2G relations over time - change abruptly from bad to very good to bad.

  1. India-China
    P2P - Very good. Both Chinese and Indians feel safe visiting each other. And if possible take vacations in each others country.

G2G - good trade relations much more in favor of China. Reasonable strategic relationship where China is dominant.

G2G relations over time - have steadily improved in the last 25 years.

  1. Pakistan-China
    P2P - bad for Chinese with kidnapping and bombing of Chinese citizens. Very safe for Pakistani visitors. Chinese do not plan holidays in Pakistan.

G2G - good trade relations that are much more in favor of China. good strategic relations that are much more in favor of Pakistan.

G2G relations over time - Use to be very strong, now they are declining as the old leadership dies out (As per Shahbaz Sharif CM Punjab, we have 10 years to safe our close relations with China. If we don’t act, the old guard will be completely gone and so will our “close relationships”)

  1. India-Pakistan
    P2P - most of the time bad some of the times reasonable. Indians do venture to Pakistan for cricket matches. Few Indians plan holidays in Pakistan unless they have relatives. Few Pakistanis plan holidays in India unless they have relatives there.

G2G - poor trade relations and very poor strategic relations
G2G relations over time - go from really bad to reasonable to really bad again.

If you notice that in P2P category, Pakistan fares the worst. In fact P2P category sort of determines the long term G2G relations too.

P2P relationships act as guarantee that even if the G2G is bad for a short while, they will recover quickly.

So guppies. How can we change Pakistan’s P2P relationships? Can we help improve the Pak governments relations to other governments?

Should we become nice and good hosts for Americans, Chinese, and Indians? Should we try to make Pakistan a place where other people plan their holidays?

2

You are confusing people to people relationship with how many tourists visit Pakistan and how safe they feel with the security environment. P2P is more about the warmth between the people. Pakistan may not be perceived as the safest place for tourists but ask any American or Indian who has visited Pakistan and interacted with locals, they all will say that the Pakistanis are the most wonderful hosts in the world!

3

That's precisely the problem with Pakistanis. They do not understand that providing respect and warmth to ordinary tourists is as important as treating an invited guest.

Your version of "warmth" is based on old tribal style behavior. Where one could visit a tribe only when the tribal chief was OK, otherwise you show up and you will be murdered.

FYI. In modern and civilized world, you don't have to know anyone and still get warmth or at least a decent treatment.

That's precisely why so many Pakistanis have permanently settled in the West, even when they didn't belong to the local tribes. Tourists in the West are treated pretty close to the "invited guests".

The world has changed yara, and Pakistanis must move up from petty tribalism.

Even uncouth tribals in FATA can treat an invited guest by feeding him a goat.
But you show up in FATA without invitation, and pretty soon, you will be the goat.

The real test of hospitality in "modern sense" is to be able to visit FATA without getting invitation. Hope this clears up a bit.