The tension between Pakistan and India might last for another three or four months until the general elections held in India, a Pakistani analyst said, adding that there is very little possibility of war.
"Perhaps the tension will continue for the next three or four months until the elections are held in India," said Khalid Rahman, director general of Pakistan's Institute of Policy Studies, in an interview with Xinhua Correspondent Li Zhongfa in Islamabad. Before India's general elections in May, political parties in India will take a hard stance against Pakistan to win popularity at home, said Rahman.
The spiralling tension between the two nuclear-armed countries have sparked speculations among the media that India might carry out surgical strikes inside Pakistan. "That is just a war of words. There is very little possibility of war between the two countries," said Rahman. "The two countries cannot afford a war", Rahman said.
Rahman also said the international community, particularly the United States, don't want a war or conflict between the two countries. "The Unites States need Pakistan also, particularly with regard to the campaign in Afghanistan. It cannot ignore Pakistan."
"If some kind of war takes place between Pakistan and India, Pakistan would not be able to provide assistance to the Americans and Nato forces in Afghanistan," Rahman said. "At this moment, the two countries should have genuine dialogue between leadership, and establish mechanism where two governments could talk with each other directly," said Rahman while replying to a question about what steps should be taken to restore trust between India and Pakistan.
Rahman hoped that the two governments could remain calm and jointly combat terrorism and warned of irritating remarks through media. Rahman said the root cause for the tensions between the two countries is the Kashmir issue. Whatever meetings were taken place at different levels, the real development toward good relations was not seen mainly because of the Kashmir issue, Rahman said. "After several months, the tensions might be removed, but bilateral relations will only be good when the Kashmir issue is resolved," said Rahman.