My hope for India and Pakistan is that they will come together again to form a democratic, secular state which does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity or religion. That is the same hope I have for Israel and Palestine.

My hope is probably vain. In both cases people who should be living together in peace are separated by religion.

Well this "analysis" is all warm and fuzzy it leaves out the key obstacle to peace between India and Pakistan - and that is the contested zone of Kashmir http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_conflict .

Most of India and Pakistan's wars and lesser confrontations have been over that jointly claimed piece of real estate. Generations of Indian and Pakistani leaders have negotiated intensively about it - with negligable results.

The author's faith in Pakistan's civilian governmet rising in power compared to the Pakistani military is quite simplistic. It would appear that the Pakistani military (with its nuclear weapons industry still using up vast amounts of Pakistan's aid budget) recognises that the US and international aid givers prefer to deal with, and give aid to, a civilian front operation - which is what the Government of Pakistan is all about.

Pakistan's President Zardari http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4032997.stm (Mr 10%) is even more corrupt and marginal in power than the West's Afghan puppet Kaizai. Many Pakistani's I know are embarrassed having a convicted conman for a President (shady as Dubya? well Dubya was never caught).

Pakistan's domineering intelligence agency (ISI) is also a major puppet master for the civilian puppet government.

I could continue at length - longer than the author's half page article but I also have uni work to attend to.

Pete

There are forces who want to drive a wedge between India and Pakistan.There are those of global corporate interests who constantly use the divide and conquer strategy playing one country off against another to gain power.

This whole global system of corruption and depravity is about to come unstuck.In the end ,no one will win.