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Listening to a conversation between Pakistani Brig. Gen. Banaran Jadoon and Rajnish Kumar of India's Ministry of Defense, you would never guess that their countries were on the brink of war. Tension over Kashmir
ebbs in tropical settingDelegates from India and Pakistan become
friends at a security program in WaikikiBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com"Did you know that Banaran is the name of a city in India?" asked Kumar.
"Not just a city," corrects Jadoon, "a HOLY city."
Both men laugh heartily and talk about taking a trip to the Big Island later this summer, their countries' differences momentarily forgotten.
"I wish we could solve our problems back home also," reflects Jadoon. "Then perhaps these clouds of war which are hovering over the Indian subcontinent would go away, and we could all live in peace."
The neighboring nuclear powers have amassed almost a million troops along their shared border while blaming each other for increased tensions in the disputed Kashmir province in the north.
Peace and security seem to be the ultimate goal of the U.S. Pacific Command program under which Jadoon and Kumar have met. They are part of this year's 79-member delegation of the Asia-Pacific Center College of Security Studies in Waikiki.
Participating delegates this year are from 32 countries and comprised of men and women from civilian and military backgrounds.
According to an overview of the center's academic curriculum, the center's goal is to "study comprehensive security and preventative defense in the Asia-Pacific region."
"It's so people can talk and make friends," said Canadian Naval Cmdr. Gord Peskett, a 1999 graduate of the program. "It's all about connections and friendships."
"It's amazing how small the world is when you get in a setting like this."
Peskett tried to create a relaxed setting yesterday evening by inviting this year's participants onto his ship, the HMCS Calgary, a Canadian patrol frigate docked at Pearl Harbor.
"Here we are students living in the same dormitory and having the same classes almost every day, and we're living like friends," said Jadoon of the relations between Indians and Pakistanis at the center.
"We talk to each other because of the common language and common culture.
"I wish our leaders back home could also talk in the same way."
Still, it seems impossible not to think about tensions overseas, even while attending a Canadian-hosted cocktail party in paradise.
"The situation there is quite serious, and we can only hope that the leaders take the action required to ensure stability in the region," said Pakistani Lt. Col. Nazir Butt. "Tensions have receded a bit, and it appears that there will be some improvement."
"We have to perhaps concentrate on the need to learn and understand each other more ... and that's precisely what's happening here."