As hopes rise for a Kashmir solution, a look at the Elysee experience may help bring into focus how conflict resolution can actually succeed.

For the better part of a thousand years, states of Western Europe had been perpetually at war, interspered with periods of uneasy peace. Germany and France were the principal protagonists. In the First World War, there was unprecedent death and destruction. Chemical weapons were first used on the battlefront, to devastating effect. In single battles casualties ran into the hundreds of thousands, figures which could never have been visualized in the past. But no lessons were learnt from the horrors of that terrible war. Soon after the War ended, the Germans began re-arming to avenge the humiliation of the Versailles Treaty, while the French started work on the defensive Maginot Line. The inevitable occurred. They went to war once again, leading to the most terrible of conflicts in history, the Second World War, in which millions upon millions perished and use of weapons of mass destruction escalated from chemical warfare to atomic bombs.

After the Second World War, people of both the countries wowed never to let the horrors of the past be repeated. It was civil society which took the first bold initiatives, not governments. Journalists from the Aachen area of Germany broke the ice by making goodwill visits to France, from where recipocral visits were made by the French. Prominent names included Hans Hahn and Leo Vallot from Germany and the famous owner of Pomery champagne, Count Guy de Nat from France. Such citizens initiatives grew. These tiny first steps led to exchanges of youth, of sportsmen, of cultural groups and of vacationing families. Realisation dawned upon them that their neighbours were not the terrible monsters they were made out to be but were perfectly normal human beings. Leaders began championing the cause of burying the past and looking to a future of lasting peace and prosperity. The stage was now set for these aspirations of the people to be given concrete form. But aspirations of people are not enough. They can be converted to reality only in a democracy, where state policy reflects the will of the people. More significantly democracy is also a prerequisite for lasting peace, there being few examples of two democracies going to war against each other. War invariably involves one or more dictator-ship. Fortunately by then fully functioning liberal democracies existed in both countries. It was also fortunate that they were led by two very great men. --- Chancellor Adenauer and President de Gaulle. These towering and fearless men who had both fought in the War, pledged to fulfil the aspirations of their people.

It was no easy task. These were incredibly difficult times for both countries. Germany was split in two, with its Eastern half under repressive Communist rule. Its proud capital Berlin, completely surrounded by Communists, remained divided and occupied by the four victors of the War. France's situation was no less difficult. The trauma of the Algerian independence movement had left a deep scar on French society. And then there was the debacle of the Suez Canal war when, incidentally, the US vetoed the French position in the UN Security Council. All territorial disputes like Alsace-Lorrainc also remained unresolved. Despite such serious impediments these two great leaders boldly went forward on the path sought by their people, to move freely across the border. The result was Elysee Treaty, signed forty years back in January 1963.

What is so special about the Elysee Treaty? It did not resolve the territorial dispute over Alsace-Lorraine. Nor did it address the usual issues of armament or trade or commerce. It simply facilitated free movement of people across the border between Germany and France. To ensure that this freedom would be expanded, the treaty required foreign ministry officials to meet every month; for youth ministers and military officials to meet every two months; for foreign ministers to meet every three months; and for heads of state to meet every six month.

These incredibly frequent and regular contacts at various levels led to scores of initiatives to facilitate movement of people across borders. Other countries of Western Europe, seeing the phenomenal success of this initiative, decided to join in resulting in the European Union of today. For what is the European Union but a group of states who retain their sovereignty, their culture and their languages, while permitting their citizens to move freely across borders, to live where they wish, to work where they wish and to conduct their business unfettered throughout the region. Visa requirements slowly eased as did customs duties for cross-border trade. So did restrictions on working anywhere and hiring anyone disappear. Even the nuisance of multiple currencies was removed by the successful introduction of the Euro. A significant result of this freedom of movement is the economic prosperity that inevitably followed. But the far more important achievement is that Western Europe has seen almost 60 years without any war, perhaps the longest such period of peace in its history. With another 10 countries joining the present 15 members, the expanded European Union will continue to be a zone of peace as far into the future as one can see. And the added spin off has been the disappearance of all territorial disputes like Alsace-Lorraine.

What is the relevance of the Elysee experience to Kashmir? In the same period that Western Europe experienced peace and growing property, India and Pakistan have faltered badly. They have gone to war several times. They now stand on the threshold of a nuclear conflagration with all its potential damage not only to the sub-continent but also to the entire Northern hemisphere including Europe, Japan and the US.

In Kashmir all known options for a solution have been tried and have failed. Military solutions including Operation Gibraltar, 1965 and 1971 wars, Siachen attack and Kargil operation have all failed. Both countries now know that there can be no military solution. The militant uprising of the oppressed people of Kashmir over the last ten years has also failed to solve the problems despite the loss of 70,000 lives. The much heralded UN Security Council Resolution for a plebiscite failed decades back, when Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed by the UN to implement the resolution. Seeking a plebiscite now after fifty years is an exercise in futility. All national and international efforts having failed it is no longer a serious option. International intervention like at Tashkent has also failed. As have other initiatives of American and European leaders. And the scores of meetings of heads of governments of India and Pakistan over the last fifty years, culminating in the Agra Summit, have also not led to a solution. The current revival of a desire to find a solution --- be it making the Line of Control the international boundary; or of some parts being retained by India others by Pakistan and independence for the rest --- are all non-starters, simply because they are based on completely ignoring the wishes of the Kashmiri people and imposing decisions upon them which leave their land, their homes and their families divided.

That is where the Elysee experience comes in. It is the only tried and tested method of conflict resolution, with results which are substantial, long term and irreversible. It is also the only alternative that has been not tried in the context of India and Pakistan, all others having failed. What it involves is the two governments removing restriction on people travelling across their border. Opening the borders to sportsmen, students, artists, cultural troupes, families, holiday makers, journalists, thinkers and intellectuals is the only way in which the bitterness and hatred of the past can be over come, never mind the over used national security concerns. Gradually, as was the case with Germany and France, understanding grows and disputes disappear. Trying to find solutions to problems like Alsace-Lorrains and Kashmir become irrelevant, simply because the problems themselves no longer exist once people are free to move and work and live any where. The Elysee Treaty cut the Gordian knot of centuries of bitterness and hatred in Europe. Its lessons may well offer a viable alternative for a lasting peace in this unfortunate sub-continent.