It seems both India and Pakistan can’t do anything by themselves and are waiting for Donald Trump to assume office as America’s President to bring some measure of calm to the relationship between the two warring neighbours!
Recent events have caused despair among peace lovers and raised tensions sky high with the talk of war and nuclear attacks dominating news channels on both sides of the border.
Saner voices are being drowned out and there is real fear that the crisis may escalate into something more sinister imperilling the lives of millions of people.
India’s BJP-led government is in no mood to relent ever since the attack on the Uri military base in Kashmir killed 19 soldiers in September. Pakistan denied any involvement but India launched what it called a “surgical strike” in which it was claimed that several terrorist “launching pads” were destroyed. 
Pakistan dismissed the event as regular border firing, but that didn’t stop the BJP and its partners from whipping up a nationalistic storm that was felt across every aspect of bilateral co-operation. 
Several Pakistani actors working in Bollywood productions had to leave India in a hurry as anti-Pakistan sentiment touched hitherto unseen levels. The makers of a movie starring Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan were threatened with violence and asked to shell out 500 million rupees to a soldiers’ fund in a dubious deal brokered by politicians to ensure its release.
In Pakistan, authorities banned Indian films and television serials in retaliation. Cinema hall owners resented the move, but had to go along with the government diktat. Left with the prospect of empty theatres, authorities hurriedly signed deals to screen Turkish and Iranian movies.
On the border almost daily skirmishes have claimed several lives so far, including those of soldiers and hapless villagers who bear the brunt of any conflict. Thousands of people on both sides of the divide have been forced to evacuate, causing them untold hardship.
With each country blaming the other for “unprovoked” firing, patriotic grandstanding has acquired ridiculous proportions with politicians and commentators referencing myths and imaginary conquests to score points.
Obviously there is serious lack of effort to defuse the situation, although both sides would maintain they are leaving no stone unturned in the quest for peace.
The unexpected arrival of Trump on the world political scene, meanwhile, has added to all the chaos. Curiously, it has also raised hopes of a de-escalation of tensions, the logic being that Trump would somehow turn out to be the exact opposite of what was projected about him in the run-up to the US election!
Even Trump wouldn’t have expected the burden to fall on his shoulders before he took charge at the White House, but he will be surely enjoying all the attention. Maybe he really has a plan that has escaped everyone for 70 years. 
Maybe. After all, did anybody take him seriously when he announced his intention to run for President?