Quest for Engendering Alternative Visions of Peace Through Media Images and Citizen Diplomacy: Challenges and Prospects in the Context of India-Pakistan Relations

India-Pakistan relations have been mired in conflict since their inception ass independent states-it remains virtually, as aptly quoted my Michael Brecher, as a constant state of an undeclared war. Any analysis of India-Pakistan relations has to analyzed in the backdrop of the insolvability of the Kashmir issue which has clouded over other issues and aspects of the relation, due to which stability and convergences seems to be like meager interruptions in between successive periods of instability and discord. The Kashmir issue has been a determinant of the level of relations since the Partition of the subcontinent in 1947 and still evades an amicable solution. The congenital animosity between these two Frontline states has shaped the politico-economic dynamics of the South Asian region. As a result, the security imperative has been a predominant aspect in Indo-Pakistani ties and especially in the context of the threat of global terrorism in the post-9/11 world. The aspect of terrorism as a factor of security has been an important dimension in India-Pakistan relations, especially since the 1990s. Other outstanding issues have been virtually relegated to the background in the face of Pakistan's unrelentingly hardline stance on the Kashmir issue. Bilateral relations have been strained and held hostage to the Kashmir issue.