Lt. Gen M. L. Chibber, former GOC-in-C, Northern Command, and Dr. (Mrs) R. Chibber have suggested that an interaction between the armies of India and Pakistan can build bridges between the two hostile neighbours."

The reality of Pakistan is that the army has, directly or indirectly, ruled the country since 1958. This is likely to continue even after the revival of democracy in some form. It can be constructive to encourage an interaction between the armed forces of the two countries at an appropriate level in a variety of activities. The fear that the Indian Army may be infected with a military coup mentality is misplaced. It is the Pakistani army that will benefit by seeing the role of a professional military in a functional democracy", General Chibber and Dr. (Mrs) Chibber wrote.

The Chibbers suggested this after a three- week tour of Pakistan in course of which they addressed seven seminars. The invitation to the seminars organised by the Institute of Regional Studies, Pakistan, was the result of correspondence with Gen. Pervez Musharraf, when he was appointed Army Chief of Pakistan in 1998.

General Chibber and Mrs Chibber, who highlighted the point that "Akhand Bharat " had never been on the agenda of the armed forces or the political parties in India, on their return, wrote their views in a monograph suggesting that India unilaterally take six steps to create an environment of trust between the two countries.

In addition to suggesting an interaction between the two armies, it was also suggested in the monograph that school children from Pakistan coming and staying with Indian families, who were willing to take them around, would be useful to break the barriers between the two countries. Organisations like the India-Pakistan Friendship Society, Rotary Clubs, the Indian Association of the Experiment in International Living, the string of Modern Schools in Delhi run by General Virendera Singh, etc, could play a role in this, it was suggested. This suggestion in fact was made by Mrs Chibber which received enthusiastic response.

The authors also suggested that all hurdles in India against English newspapers and magazines published from Pakistan should be done away with since English media in Pakistan was remarkably free and outspoken. It was suggested that the services should encouraged to invite the pre-Independence military officers of Pakistan for re-unions and other such functions. Though there would be resistance to this from some segments of the Pakistani army (one officer apparently confided in the authors that on one occasion, when an invitation was received from India, a senior warned him that he would break the legs of anyone going to India, yet some of them did come), still it should be tried.

Organised tours to India by Pakistani by tourist agencies should be completely liberalised, the authors suggested. They also felt that villagers who migrated to Pakistan from Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujrat should be permitted to visit their ancestral villages. The authors also suggested that to promote trade between the two countries, initiative should be take to bypass the bureaucratic red-tape by letting entrepreneurs of proven integrity in India and Pakistan to evolve a plan for trade which would benefit the two countries.

IF the observations cited in the Human Development Report 2000, released in Paris recently are anything to go by, India occupies an extremely favourable position with regard to realisation of human rights among the medium developed countries. The report cites India as progressive in the attainment of human development.

In the report, which has explored the issue of human rights in 174 countries, ranks India’s Human Development Index (HDI) at 128. Canada secures the first position for the seventh consecutive year. Unlike the general feeling, India has been shown to be steadily making improvements in its attempt to secure the citizens’ dignity. It is gradually making gains in the area of amelioration of human poverty, while many of its South Asian counterparts are slipping back, including Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The cited statistics places India in a very favourable light in the category of medium developed countries and points towards remarkable trends particularly in areas of gender empowerment and mobilisation of democratic institutions and the media. The report tells us about the increasing participation of women in issues of government and points out to the number of women holding positions in the government. In 1998, 4.9% women were holding positions in the government at all levels, 7.9% were holding ministerial positions and 4.2% sub-ministerial positions. Corresponding figures for Bangladesh are 1.1, 5.3 and 0; for Pakistan 3.0, 7.1 and 1.4; and for Nepal they are 1.3, 3.1 and 0.

The report, released by UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Administrator Mark Malloch Brown, offers suggestions to national governments on how to face the challenge of threats to the freedom with which the current century has opened.

An analyses of trends in terms of India revealed that the HDI and per capita income improved continuously from 0.405 (1975) and 0.470 (1985) to 0.563 (1998). While comparing the human development indices of eight nations that fall in South Asia, India occupies the fourth position after Sri Lanka, Maldives and Iran and Islamic Republic, while Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh are relegated in the list.

Economic growth of India has also improved from 0.026 in 1975 to 0.054 in 1998. India’s development in terms of survival which implies as to whether the nation has been able to offer a long and healthy life to its people — India has particularly progressed. Its life expectancy at birth has shot up from 50.3 (1970- 75) to 69 (1998). The infant mortality rate has fallen to almost half in the said period.

Tolerance of others, as a factor leading to human development, has also been talked about. Seen in this context, India has been referred as a nation which sees its diversity as a strength rather than a weakness. The report, while stating that many institutional changes have led to a gradual improvement in dispersal of rights, focuses India as follows: "In India affirmative action in economic and political spheres benefits scheduled castes and scheduled tribes."

India has also progressed in terms of reducing income poverty from 54 per cent in 1974 to 39 per cent in 1994. An insight into the report reveals that developing nations are reporting some encouraging human development trends: the persons born today but not expected to live over 40 years has declined from 20 per cent to 14 per cent (1990 and 1998); the share of people having access to safe water has fallen from 32 per cent to 28 per cent for this period.

Freedom from injustice as a right is another aspect of human development. It is heartening to note that in this context, the report quotes India favourably: "In India public interest litigation cases in education and environment have been important milestones in securing people’s economic and social rights." In context of political activism also India’s Mazdoor Kisan Sangh Samiti has been cited. This Sangh holds regular public hearings on public resources where people are free to ask for copies of official documents.