Building Constituencies in India and Pakistan to Improve Bilateral Relations

This Capstone report was undertaken on behalf of the U.S. Department of State to assess the role of civil society peace constituencies seeking to aid the goal of normalization between India and Pakistan.

For the better part of seven decades, the relationship between India and Pakistan has been marked by violence and mistrust. Yet while the two governments continue to exchange fire and trade fiery words, numerous Indian and Pakistani individuals and organizations have been working to improve relations between their two countries.

Through interviews with specialists, government officials, and NGO leaders, this report examined the present terrain of civil society peace efforts between the two countries in a variety of sectors — including constituencies of trade, arts and culture, human rights, security, and others — and assessed their historical impact, longevity, as well as their potential to enhance transnational and/or bilateral ties in the future.

The research provided a blueprint for international actors, including governments, foundations, think tanks and academic institutions, looking to understand and assist in these endeavors. Through its findings and recommendations, the report also aimed to equip ongoing and future peacebuilding efforts with the tools needed to thrive outside the closed doors and elite circles that incubated many such initiatives in the past; to find new, innovative, and lasting ways of mobilizing civil society and the broader Indian and Pakistani publics; and to help seed a more compelling narrative about the future of India-Pakistan relations.