Re: We are the problem
It may be but i don’t think even North and South Koreans who meet outside of Korea get along well. I can’t say about within Korea but they do have an acrimonious past, with border disputes/incursions and a war. Korean Demilitarized Zone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Last one in 2010 where 6 people were killed and 70 houses were destroyed. But now they are working on things together. But now they have joint ventures and the border is used as a tourism site Foreign Tourists Flock to Border Between North and South Korea - SPIEGEL ONLINE If India and Pakistan try to capitalise on economic benefits of tourism and trade things could improve. Actually, a number of business leaders both Indian and Pakistani came to talk to Pakistan to talk to children but of course such videos no one watches. All the high rated ones are the India-Pakistan military/war related videos. I mean in a way we are the problem we don’t talk or build upon things we have in common but we always look for differences. Like there are so many potential historical tourist sites of Hindu, Buddhist or Christian origin in Pakistan like the Sikh gurudwaras which could attract millions of tourists, help the economy, but they are left in disarray. It would take fraction of a military budget to preserve. Similarly, plenty of Muslim sites in India which could be aimed towards Muslim tourists in Pakistan like Ajmer Sharif. My parents went there last year it was an awesome place. I mean I have Indian student friend here and they gel much better with the Pakistani students than some of the local Indians. I think both India and Pakistan when things are friendlier and more secure could promote the other side. Like in the West there are lot of negative stereotypes about Pakistanis as Indians we look similar and we have the power to dispel those myths as we probably have more interaction with Pakistanis than those who are ignorant. There has been this one occasion when an older white guy, who was a patient where im at, was generalising against Pakistanis and talking about why they want to impose their rules on western society etc. Probably because when they show Pakistan (and India) here they show images of rallies and protests against the West but not usually the younger generation who is not like that. I mentioned that to him. It didn’t take long to explain that it is wrong to generalise and there are many Pakistanis, even around him working to help him, that do not think that way and he apologised. Similarly, maybe Pakistanis can help Indians with image problems in places like Middle East where Pakistan has a more favourable image. For example places in Dubai south Asians are similarly discriminated. Like this mall in Qatar where desis are not allowed at particular times probably because most of them there are workers. The truth is from a distance most countries cannot differentiate Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi etc Sure some Indians and Pakistanis might not look same they might look white or Arabic but most of the world characterises us as similar. However, I am also sure that in general an average Pakistani person would get a more hospitable reception amongst an average Indian than amongst a European or middle eastern person.