International agreements are short of quick fixes. This was the message John Bruton, former Irish Prime Minister and former European Union Ambassador to the Union States, relayed at a talk at Synergia Foundation, a not-for-profit group engaged in the academics of business and polity, in the city on Wednesday.
Mr. Bruton said that lessons from the Irish Peace Accord that he had helped broker in 1998, could be analysed to find solutions to India’s Kashmir issue. However, he added that it was dangerous for an outsider to comment.
“The Belfast Agreement, while accepting UK’s sovereignty over Northern Ireland, puts in place arrangements to ensure cooperation between North Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. There’s a provision which states that if in the future, a majority of North Ireland wants to join Ireland, the arrangements for safeguarding the rights of minorities would continue. So there is a provision for change but with arrangements to safeguard human rights,” Mr. Bruton said.
It is worth looking at other peace processes to pick ideas, as long as they are produced at the right time, suggested Mr. Bruton. He also spoke about his views on how Donald Trump’s pre-election proposals could affect world politics and the effect of Brexit on the European Union.
