Daily Times

Kartarpur Corridor is a social corridor. It is a peace corridor. Its importance is not less, if not more, than any economic corridor.

International corridors can be put into several categories, including economic corridors, transport corridors and remittance corridors. Among economic corridors are included East-West Economic Corridor (which links Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam), Northern Rail Economic Corridor (which links China and Russia through Mongolia) and The New Eurasia Land Bridge Economic Corridor (which connects Chinese cities to Germany, Poland, Spain, and France through Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus). Ten Pan-European transport corridors span almost the whole of Europe. Remittance corridors have been established by Malaysia and Indonesia, the US and Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean states, Germany and Serbia and others. As compared to other categories, however, economic corridors have drawn most of the analysts’ attention.

Siegfried O Wolf, in his book, “The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor of the Belt and Road Initiative: Concept, Context and Assessment” explains that economic corridors “foster efforts to push processes of industrial modernisation.”

If international industrial and economic corridors facilitate and ensure economic development and modernisation, international social corridors facilitate and ensure social development and modernisation. Economic and social development and modernisation, in turn, facilitate political development and modernisation. Political development and modernisation, in the form of international peace, could not have been materialised in Europe without economic and social development and modernisation.

Europe remained mired into wars till World War II. Several countries, including Germany, France, and Britain, were famous for their warfighting. However, forces of peace prevailed in the postwar period and Europeans learned to live peaceably. “Live and let live” became an accepted norm. They learnt how to resolve conflicts in a peaceful manner i.e. through negotiations. Rather than taking a step forward, Europeans promoted economic cooperation with each other by establishing European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). European states became looking like members of a continental family in a matter of a few decades. Citizens of one country no more had to face hurdles while travelling to other European countries. As a result, Europe made progress, which was unprecedented in its entire history.

As human conscience and civilisation have gone through various stages of evolution, the forces of peace have scored several victories

Two types of forces have been active in the world since forever: “forces of peace” and “forces of violence.” Forces of peace have been working to promote love and brotherhood among individuals, groups, tribes, castes, communities, classes, societies, races, religions, associations, countries and continents. Forces of violence have been sowing the seeds of hate and animosity. The latter has been devising and employing new-fangled methods and techniques to implant enmity. However, as human conscience and civilisation have gone through various stages of evolution, the forces of peace have scored several victories. And forces of violence have retreated in several aspects. By having a look at the global level, we can see several individuals, organisations and international institutions busy promoting and strengthening international peace. International institutions have played a considerable role in bringing an end to ongoing wars and preventing wars before their occurrence. At the regional level, too, international organisations have played a key role in bringing various peoples and states closer than before by encouraging trade and fostering economic cooperation.

Corridors, be they economic or social, are one of the instruments for giving the right direction to an environment characterised by hate and animosity. That is why Pakistan has been implementing projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Not only the two countries but this whole region will benefit from CPEC when projects under it will come to fruition. This way, the CPEC will make a positive impact on the global economy. The news of the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor has also appeared in media. With India, we have established the Kartarpur Corridor. Kartarpur is surrounded by Narowal in its west (21 km), Lahore in the southwest (119 km), Sialkot in the northwest (76 km), Jammu in the south (72 km), and Gurdaspur (Indian Punjab) in the east (37 km).

Some have voiced concerns based on their reservations and apprehensions over the establishment of this corridor. Concerns of the opponents of Kartarpur Corridor are centred on feelings of insecurity. To them, measures like this corridor may endanger Pakistan’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty. It appears that most of such concerns emanate from bitter realities of the distant past. Furthermore, most of these concerns revolve around communalism and sectarianism.

It will be helpful if all those who have raised concerns pay more attention to already changed and increasingly changing ground realities. Kashmir dispute and several other issues between Pakistan and India indeed remain unresolved. But, their resolution is connected to prevailing international political, economic, social, defence and security systems. All these aspects of the international system are evolving rapidly. The quantity of change that needed 500 years to take place in ancient times requires less than 50 years in this modern age because revolutions in educational, scientific, industrial, economic and political arenas have extraordinarily increased the pace of change.

The sceptics may be assured that Pakistan’s integrity and sovereignty do not face the same challenges and threats as they did immediately after its establishment in 1947 or as 30, 40, or 50 years ago. To comprehend it, we need to pay attention to economic, political, defence and security situation at the global as well as South Asian level. Having a perceptive look at both – global as well as South Asian – levels helps understand that Kartarpur (social) Corridor does not pose any threat to Pakistan’s future.

Forces of peace would wish to see it succeeding whereas forces of hate and animosity would like to see the corridor failing.

The writer works at the Department of IR and Political Science