Stepping back from the brink: time for reason and rapprochement between India and Pakistan

Abstract

Paediatricians from all over the world—including many from India and Pakistan—assembled in Mexico City last week at the biennial International Congress of Pediatrics. They convened just as India and Pakistan once again stepped closer to an open conflict, and we watched and listened with extreme concern and dismay as military exchanges with missiles and drones escalated the situation and inflicted death and destruction in both countries. Just as the region appeared to slide down the slippery slope of war and potential nuclear conflagration, a temporary ceasefire was hurriedly agreed. The region once again teeters at the brink of conflict, reflecting deep rooted mistrust. Relations have sunk to an all-time low, and there is an absence of civil society and track two diplomacy. As medical professionals we are dismayed at this turn of events and its potential consequences, which will affect many generations. We do not dwell on the genesis of the recent conflict, nor the longstanding problems that underlie this mistrust and animosity. We recognise though that the trigger for the current exacerbation was the deplorable act of killing innocent tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir on 22 April 2025.1 These despicable acts of terrorism against innocent civilians are now commonplace in the region and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Such acts include the hijacking of a passenger train in Balochistan in March …