India's decision to test its three 3,000km range Agni-III missile on Wednesday must be characterised as crazy. It is one thing to aspire to become a regional power, with a rising defence expenditure and a large military force. But aiming for long range missiles which go well beyond the range required to hit crucial targets in countries like China or Pakistan, is an obvious matter of an overkill.
There are many reasons why neither India nor Pakistan can afford to keep on building their nuclear and missile arsenals. The chief among these reasons must be the fact that there can be no sanity in building war machines when the same money could be better spent on schools, hospitals and infrastructure.
But the other important argument against the two countries' constant build-up of arms and armies is that it runs the risk of adding to the frictions in their relationship.
Both India and Pakistan are locked in an unending arms race, where a build-up by one side immediately creates the risk of counter-deployment. After India's tests, neither China nor Pakistan - the two countries which have fought wars against New Delhi - would be willing to relax their guard. It is quite possible, in fact, that the determination of Pakistan and China to further strengthen their arsenals may have suddenly gained strength and momentum.
Anxiety
It is also possible that India's missile test would prompt anxiety and arouse concern in other countries that are now in the range of the missiles. But these countries may or may not show their anxiety in public. The alternative way forward for India, China, Pakistan, and possibly even Iran, would be to establish a new regime that puts in place measures for improving their collective safety.
The recent renewal of a longstanding Iranian proposal to build a new pipeline transporting Iranian gas to Pakistan and India, and Pakistan's additional suggestion of including China in that venture, has also emerged as a collectively beneficial project. There are signs of both India and Pakistan coming around to defy US pressure to sign up to this project.
The US has moved to block this pipeline project as it believes that such a venture would inject new revenue into the Iranian economy at a time when Washington is trying hard to tighten the screw on the government in Tehran. However, for both India and Pakistan, faced with a fast-mounting bill for oil imports, a pipeline from Iran could mean huge savings in annual energy costs, not to forget the added benefit of a large scale conversion of industry and automobiles to a cleaner fuel - gas.
India and Pakistan along with China could also sign up to other economic projects, all in the hope of building enough synergies between them, to overcome their recurring political discord over issues like Kashmir, and the Indo-China border dispute.
At a later stage, China's position as the world's fastest-emerging economy, and India's as a close second, could help these two countries along with Pakistan, build new economic regimes that also link them to other countries. The combined geographical size and population base of India, Pakistan and China could enable them to become formidable players in the future.
Today, such a close link-up between these three countries may seem little more than a pipe dream. But going forward, such a pipe dream can become reality, provided certain key prerequisites are fulfilled. One of those has to be the understanding between all sides to freeze potentially hostile acts, including further development of weapons of mass destruction.
A move towards mass benefit joint ventures with tangible economic benefits, must set the pace for a new era of peace, prosperity and hope in a region which has seen more than its share of friction and tension.
Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.
