Aadisht in China

Aadisht ends his travelogue with a very sobering message

About two years ago, I had written rude and mocking things about Track II diplomacy and people-to-people contacts. At that time, it was about a Youth Initiative for Peace thingummy being organised in Pune, with twenty students from Pakistan and twenty from India being invited to meet each other. Back then I had called it naive and idealistic (though admittedly I was doing so mostly to irritate my brother).

Now that I’ve returned from China, have I changed my mind? Am I now convinced that people-to-people contacts are important and useful ways to bring countries whose relations have deteriorated closer together?

Hell no. In fact, the realisation that people are the same actually makes me more convinced of the utter uselessness of people-to-people contacts.

Previous posts from his China travelogue -
Home Improvement
Shook Lee Ya
30 April: A Travelogue
The Joy of Literal Translations
Four Chinese Puzzles