The tourism economy in Kashmir was flourishing. It was generating income and employment for the Kashmiri people. What appeared to be a sunrise in the tourism sector of Kashmir turned out to be a horror story. On 22nd of April 2025, terrorists killed 26 tourists and injured 17 people in Pahalgam of Kashmir. The majority of the victims were professionals; one Indian Navy Officer, one Intelligence Bureau employee and one Indian Air Force Personnel also lost their lives. A Muslim from Pahalgam and a Nepali national were also killed by the terrorists. 

The heinous part of the terrorist attack was that the terrorists identified the Hindus from the tourists by forcing them to unzip their trousers. They killed the male adults and asked the women and children to narrate the incidents to Prime Minister Naredra Modi. The incident had created a nationwide outrage and pushed the Indian government to punish Pakistan for this cowardly act. Both India and Pakistan plunged into war which lasted for four days, enough to cause huge loss to the economy of both the countries. Both have deeper human misery to deal with.

Both carry burden of social backwardness

India being a far bigger economy growing faster than any other countries in the world carries a huge burden of people with illiteracy, malnutrition and unemployment. India is home to nearly 360 million illiterate people, the largest in the world. India ranks 105th out of the 127 countries in the 2024 Global Hunger Index. The unemployment rate in India rose from 6.0% in 2021 to 9.2% in June 2024. 

Pakistan being a far smaller economy in comparison to India has squandered away the opportunity to grow due to terrorism, violence and lack of proper development vision. Pakistan currently owes the IMF $8.3 billion. 

According to the latest data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the total domestic debt and liabilities of the government soared by 18.81% year-on-year (YoY) to reach Rs51.28 trillion in February 2025. Pakistan’s external debt added further pressure, with the government owing Rs21.73 tr in long-term foreign loans and Rs288.59 bn in short-term external borrowings. In 2019, 42% of Pakistan population were illiterate, More than 53% of women in Pakistan are illiterate. The massive debt burden will not allow it to address its human suffering. In these circumstances any effort to glorify terrorism will push Pakistan to the stone age. The country has paid a heavy price for its decades-long involvement in Afghanistan; it has received huge external aids and soft loans but at a huge cost to its economy, culture and society.

Changing priorities, developing core strengths

So, instead of becoming two adversaries and wasting money and men on terrorism and war, both nations should focus on education, health, employment and on building nation specific infrastructure projects. Today, the breed of strong global leaders with ethics and morality is fast disappearing. War between nations is exploited to boost weapon trade. Both India and Pakistan should not fall prey to global arms traders and spend their money to develop the core strength of their countries.

Both India and Pakistan have all the ingredients to achieve inclusive growth, income and employment for their citizens on a sustainable basis. Both the countries have enough water resources, crop diversity, multiple economic activities in agriculture, tourism, industries and handicraft sectors etc. Their youth need scope for research and advanced studies; they need peaceful family life and prosperity. Lack of inclusive quality education often pushes the uneducated youth into the path of terrorism and violence.

Both India and Pakistan can build their core strength to become trading partners. It is very essential for them to reweave their economies to make it sustainable; they should manufacture at least their daily use utility items instead of buying from other countries. People of India and Pakistan have immense skills to make hundreds of eco-friendly utility and decorative items which have growing demand in the global market. The crop diversity of both the nations is very rich and it produces a wide range of crops; many are cash crops. Today half of the world population do not get adequate food to eat and malnutrition is looming large. Both nations can protect their crop diversity and tap the global market for economic growth. 

Besides, both India and Pakistan should keep a hawk eye on fanatic religious preachers who pour poisons in the minds of the youth for power and pleasure. They are the main stumbling block to any kind of development. The mindset has to be changed to accept new technology, ideas and philosophies. This is high time to find reason amid chaos.

(The writer is a sustainable microeconomic analyst. Views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at sudhansuranjandas2007@gmail.com)