Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Keeping faith: On people-to-people initiatives and India-Pakistan ties

Keeping faith: On people-to-people initiatives and India-Pakistan ties

People-to-people initiatives (पहल, प्रस्ताव, योजना) can help build goodwill between India and Pakistan

At a time when most other India-Pakistan exchanges (conversation, dialogue, talk, discussion, meeting) are suspended (निलंबित देना, समाप्त करना), even a simple proposal by the Pakistan Hindu Council (The Pakistan Hindu Council is a Representative Body of Hindus residing in Pakistan. It was founded by the Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Hindu activist and member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. It was registered in 2005), forwarded by Pakistan to India, to allow pilgrims (तीर्थयात्री, मुसाफिर) of both countries to travel by air to avoid cumbersome journeys seems a leap (छलांग, परिवर्तन, चाल). Islamabad-Delhi ties (संबंध, योजक रेखा) now are possibly (सम्भवतः, शायद मुमकिन है) at their worst ever in peace times, with no political dialogue (discussion, conversation, talk, exchange of views, discourse) at a bilateral (द्विपक्षीय, दुतरफा) or multilateral (involving many different countries) level for over five years. After many terror attacks, India has stopped normal communications and cultural exchanges (सांस्कृतिक विनियमन), and after the Government’s moves on Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan stopped all trade ties. Both sides have downsized (reduce, cut down, decrease, lessen) their diplomatic (कूटनीतिक, कांसुलर, विदेश नीति) missions. In addition (के अतिरिक्त, इसके अलावा), the COVID-19 pandemic (वैश्विक महामारी) has ensured that the borders have been virtually (वास्तव में, व्यावहारिक रूप से, लगभग) sealed for two years, with few direct routes operating between them. Even the movement of pilgrims may have been cancelled but for the conscious (deliberate, intentional, purposeful, considered, calculated, strategic) attempt by the two governments to make an exception (special case) for faith-based ((of a travel) based on a religious one) travel — as was done for the Kartarpur corridor that came up in 2019, the same year the two countries nearly went to war over the Pulwama attack. Religious exchanges, of mainly Muslim pilgrims from Pakistan, and Hindus and Sikhs from India, are governed by a protocol (rules of conduct, procedure, convention) signed in 1974, and allowed to continue.

While the routes for Sikh pilgrims, from Indian Punjab to the Pakistani Punjab province, are relatively (comparatively, in comparison, by comparison, proportionately) easy, hundreds of Indian and Pakistani pilgrims crossing over (travel across, go across, cut across, traverse) at the Wagah/Atari border to travel further to the Hinglaj Mata Mandir in Balochistan, the Paramhans Mandir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Ajmer Sharif dargah in Rajasthan, the Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi and other such shrines, face more circuitous (indirect, roundabout) routes. To avoid the extra time in travel, the Pakistan Hindu Council, which has now signed an MoU with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to facilitate (make easy, make possible, enable, assist, help/aid) faith-based tour groups, has asked that PIA charters from Karachi and Lahore be allowed to fly direct to Indian cities this week, with a view to also allowing reciprocal (corresponding, returned; shared, joint, mutual) air charters (a hired aircraft for a special purpose) from India. This would be the first time such air travel has taken place in years, and the first time ever that pilgrimages would be accorded (give, grant, present) this facility. As pilgrim groups on both sides are vetted before being allowed to travel, the precedent (model, exemplar, example, pattern; previous example/instance, prior instance) is unlikely to pose any additional security threat. In an atmosphere (conditions, circumstances, backdrop/context) fraught with (full of, filled with, rife with, loaded with) tensions, such people-to-people (relating to an interaction between the normal citizens of two countries at various levels without any official interference and guidance) initiatives can only help build some modicum (little bit or small amount of something, particularly a good quality) of goodwill (compassion; cooperation, collaboration, friendliness, mutual support). No evident (obvious, apparent, visible, noticeable, conspicuous) harm to national interests has come from other such recent moves embarked on (start, begin, commence, institute, initiate, engage in) by the two governments, such as the LoC ceasefire (a negotiated agreement that will be accompanied by other associated commitments to de-escalate the fighting; a temporary stoppage of war, truce, armistice) announcement in February, or the decision to reopen the Kartarpur corridor in November, or the Government’s nod for cricket under the T20 World Cup as well as other sporting events. While the Government’s reflex (instinctive, automatic, knee-jerk, impulsive, spontaneous, unconscious, unthinking, unpremeditated, unintentional, accidental) position may be to deny the request, it may prove wiser to give the proposal some deliberate (careful, cautious, unhurried, measured, methodical, systematic) consideration (thought, deliberation, contemplation, pondering, analysis, review).

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.keep faith (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - भरोसा रखना, सच मनाना, यक़ीन करना
English Meaning - be loyal to, be faithful to, be true to.

2.initiative (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पहल, प्रस्ताव, योजना
English Meaning - proposal, plan, step, measure, technique.

3.ties (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संबंध, योजक रेखा
English Meaning - association, relationship, bond, connection.

4.suspend (verb)

Hindi Meaning - निलंबित देना, समाप्त करना
English Meaning - cease, discontinue, terminate, bring to an end.

5.pilgrim (noun)

Hindi Meaning - तीर्थयात्री, मुसाफिर
English Meaning - traveller (going to holy/sacred place for a religious reason).

6.leap (noun)

Hindi Meaning - छलांग, परिवर्तन, चाल
English Meaning - (a sudden and abrupt) change, move, transformation.

7.possibly (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - सम्भवतः, शायद मुमकिन है
English Meaning - perhaps, maybe.

8.bilateral (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - द्विपक्षीय, दुतरफा
English Meaning - involving two groups or countries.

9.cultural exchange (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सांस्कृतिक विनियमन
English Meaning - it is about sharing different ideas, traditions, and knowledge with someone who may be coming from a completely different background than your own. An exchange of students, artists, athletes, ideas, traditions, culture, etc., between two countries to promote mutual understanding.

10.Article 370 of Indian Constitution (noun)

Hindi Meaning - भारतीय संविधान का अनुच्छेद 370
English Meaning - It had “temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir” which gave special powers to the state. The article allowed the state a certain amount of autonomy - its own constitution, a separate flag and freedom to make laws. Foreign affairs, defence and communications remained the preserve (domain) of the central government. It also allowed Jammu and Kashmir to make its own rules relating to permanent residency, ownership of property and fundamental rights. It did also bar Indians from outside the state from purchasing property or settling there.

11.diplomatic (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - कूटनीतिक, कांसुलर, विदेश नीति
English Meaning - consular, foreign-policy.

12.diplomatic mission (noun)

Hindi Meaning - राजनायिक मिशन
English Meaning - In Diplomatic Terms, “mission” has multiple meanings. All embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic posts in foreign countries are known collectively as missions and they all share the common mission of carrying out the foreign policy of the government. (But the government is also a member of many international organizations, and its representatives to these organizations, and the work they do, are also called diplomatic missions).

13.in addition (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - के अतिरिक्त, इसके अलावा
English Meaning - as well as, additionally, moreover.

14.pandemic (noun)

Hindi Meaning - वैश्विक महामारी
English Meaning - the worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area.

15.virtually (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - वास्तव में, व्यावहारिक रूप से, लगभग
English Meaning - practically, almost, nearly.

16.people-to-people (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to an interaction between the normal citizens of two countries at various levels without any official interference and guidance.

17.goodwill (noun)

English Meaning - compassion; cooperation, collaboration, friendliness, mutual support.

18.exchange (noun)

English Meaning - conversation, dialogue, talk, discussion, meeting.

19.Pakistan Hindu Council (noun)

English Meaning - The Pakistan Hindu Council is a Representative Body of Hindus residing in Pakistan. It was founded by the Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Hindu activist and member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. It was registered in 2005.

20.cumbersome (adjective)

English Meaning - complicated, complex; awkward/hard to deal with.

21.dialogue (noun)

English Meaning - discussion, conversation, talk, exchange of views, discourse.

22.multilateral (adjective)

English Meaning - involving many different countries.

23.downsize (verb)

English Meaning - reduce, cut down, decrease, lessen.

24.conscious (adjective)

English Meaning - deliberate, intentional, purposeful, considered, calculated, strategic.

25.exception (noun)

English Meaning - special case.

26.faith-based (adjective)

English Meaning - (of a travel) based on a religious one.

27.Kartarpur Corridor Agreement (noun)

English Meaning - An Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the facilitation of Pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal, Pakistan, was signed on 24 October 2019 in order to fulfil the long-standing demand of the pilgrims to have easy and smooth access to the holy Gurudwara.

28.go to war (phrase)

English Meaning - to begin to engage in an intense conflict with someone; do battle, wage war, take up arms.

29.govern (verb)

English Meaning - manage, conduct, regulate, control.

30.protocol (noun)

English Meaning - rules of conduct, procedure, convention.

31.The Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines 1974 (noun)

English Meaning - The Government of India and The Government of Pakistan, taking note of the sentiments and devotion of the various communities in the two countries for the historic and sacred shrines in the other have agreed on certain principles for facilitating visits to such shrines.

32.province (noun)

English Meaning - territory, region, state (of a country).

33.relatively (adverb)

English Meaning - comparatively, in comparison, by comparison, proportionately.

34.cross over (verb)

English Meaning - travel across, go across, cut across, traverse.

35.shrine (noun)

English Meaning - holy place.

36.circuitous (adjective)

English Meaning - indirect, roundabout.

37.memorandum of understanding (MoU) (noun)

English Meaning - a formal (written) agreement between two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) parties outlined in a formal document.

38.facilitate (verb)

English Meaning - make easy, make possible, enable, assist, help/aid.

39.charter (noun)

English Meaning - a hired vehicle (aircraft/ship/motor vehicle) for a special purpose.

40.air charter (noun)

English Meaning - a hired aircraft for a special purpose.

41.reciprocal (adjective)

English Meaning - corresponding, returned; shared, joint, mutual.

42.pilgrimage (noun)

English Meaning - religious journey, holy expedition/excursion.

43.vet (verb)

English Meaning - assess, evaluate, scrutinize, inspect.

44.precedent (noun)

English Meaning - model, exemplar, example, pattern; previous example/instance, prior instance.

45.unlikely (adjective)

English Meaning - doubtful, implausible, improbable, questionable.

46.pose (verb)

English Meaning - constitute, present, create, cause (a challenge or problem or danger or risk).

47.atmosphere (noun)

English Meaning - conditions, circumstances, backdrop/context.

48.fraught with (adjective)

English Meaning - full of, filled with, rife with, loaded with.

49.tension (noun)

English Meaning - strained relations; strain, stress, pressure, unease.

50.modicum (noun)

English Meaning - little bit or small amount of something, particularly a good quality.

51.evident (adjective)

English Meaning - obvious, apparent, visible, noticeable, conspicuous.

52.interest (noun)

English Meaning - common concerns (in politics/business).

53.embark on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - start, begin, commence, institute, initiate, engage in.

54.Line of Control (LoC) (noun)

English Meaning - it is a 450 mile-long military control line lying between India and Pakistan’s controlled parts of the former (under the British) Jammu and Kashmir. This line is not actually a legally recognized international boundary but prevails as per de facto. After the Simla Agreement signed in July 1972, this line was officially renamed as “Line of Control” from “the Cease-fire Line”.

55.ceasefire (noun)

English Meaning - a negotiated agreement that will be accompanied by other associated commitments to de-escalate the fighting; a temporary stoppage of war, truce, armistice.

56.nod (noun)

English Meaning - signal, indication, sign; a gesture of approval/acceptance/acknowledgement.

57.reflex (adjective)

English Meaning - instinctive, automatic, knee-jerk, impulsive, spontaneous, unconscious, unthinking, unpremeditated, unintentional, accidental.

58.wiser comparative adjective of wise (adjective)

English Meaning - well advised, well thought out, well judged, rational, logical.

59.deliberate (adjective)

English Meaning - careful, cautious, unhurried, measured, methodical, systematic.

60.accord (verb)

English Meaning - give, grant, present.

61.consideration (noun)

English Meaning - thought, deliberation, contemplation, pondering, analysis, review.