Business Travel Topic – India and Pakistan At Odds – There is Definitely a Bit of History There

There sure is a lot of tension the world, there’s no doubt about it. And unfortunately much of the animosity that is going on has thousands of years of history behind it. Take for instance the current conflicts between India and Pakistan. For over 3000 years that region has been in conflict. Today Pakistan has nuclear missiles pointed at India, and India has reciprocated by working to protect itself and has missiles pointed the other way.

The United States went through the Cold War with Russia, and we came to learn of mutually assured destruction, or rather annihilation from nuclear weapons. The absurdity of it all is a scary thought, and luckily we came out in one piece. It’s hard to say if such a game of chicken will play out in the same way between India and Pakistan, let’s hope that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs will always invoke a sense of fear and trepidation towards launching nuclear weapons against the enemy, and we shouldn’t be so sure.

As a world business traveler, I am often concerned when I travel to nations which appear to be normal, but at any time a war could break out. Just recently I read in the Wall Street Journal on February 12, 2011 an interesting article titled “Asia’s New Arms Race – as China Grows Wealthier and Builds up Its Military, Other Nations in the Region Are Taking Note – and Amassing Weapons of Their Own.” By Amol Sharma in New Delhi, Jeremy Page in Beijing, James Hook way in Hanoi, and racial Pannette in Canberra.

If you are in the defense industry, this is all good news to you, but if you are traveling for business and other matters, this scares the heck out of you. Nevertheless as a business traveler it is something you should consider. In fact, before you travel to either India or Pakistan, maybe you should read up on some of the conflicts, and understand that there is some risk. There is a very good book I’d like to recommend to you and the name of the book is;

“India and Pakistan – Opposing Viewpoints Series” Edited by William Dudley, Greenhaven Press – a Thompson Gale Publisher, New York, NY, (2003), 219 pages, ISBN: 0-7377-1762-9.

In this book you will learn about the history of the region and the conflicts – as well as the opposing viewpoints. Each country is unwilling to yield and the United States currently is trading partners with both nations. In other words we do business in both countries and sell each of those nations weapons systems and military hardware. One of the chapters is titled “Is Nuclear War Likely between India and Pakistan?” Indeed, this is something you need to know before you travel there.

You will also learn about human rights, and some thoughts on the future of Pakistan, as well as India. Indeed I hope you will consider this if you are traveling to that region of the world or any of the nations which border those countries. Because this is serious business, and the last thing you want to do is get caught up in a country you should be in, or at the wrong time. Think on it.