PAKISTAN PM SHEHBAZ SHARIF’S KASHMIR PITCH MAY HINDER ‘PEACE MOVES’ WITH INDIA

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s message seeking a “meaningful engagement” with India may have triggered murmurs of “peace moves” aimed at repairing the ties between Islamabad and New Delhi, but the Kashmir rant by Imran Khan’s successor is fraught with the risk of queering the pitch for any such ‘peace initiative’ in future. Moreover, Sharif’s silence on the issue of terrorism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his congratulatory message emphatically highlighted is suggestive only of Pakistan steering clear of what could cause inconvenience to it on the various international forums. On Sharif asking India to address the Kashmir issue “so that the two countries could concentrate on tackling poverty and unemployment”, PM Modi aptly and logically pointed out that India desired peace and stability in a region free of terrorism. Was there any assurance from Sharif on terrorism then? No word from him at all. Perhaps, he did not have permission from the Pakistan Army to utter a single word on terrorism. So, what does it all suggest? The question remains whether Shehbaz Sharif can satisfy India by cracking down on terror outfits in territories under Pakistan’s control. Can Sharif afford to close eyes to the fact that Pakistan-based terrorism continues to be a key global issue?

The diplomatic establishment in India must, therefore, have taken a serious note of the fact that Pakistan’s core concern remains unchanged despite the change of guard in Islamabad. There is hardly any change in India’s perspective about Pakistan that it cannot, at all, be trusted. There is no denying that New Delhi is watching the developments in Islamabad and Rawalpindi with “cautious optimism” amid growing speculation about the possibility of the diplomatic opening between India and Pakistan. It is good that India has not yet come out with any official word on Sharif’s comments seeking engagement with New Delhi.

It is still doubtful whether the developments will lead to headway in bilateral ties between India and Pakistan despite messaging by Sharif, with Islamabad continuing to resort to dirty tricks to provoke communal sentiments in New Delhi. Coming close on the heels of Sharif seeking to mend ties with India, Pakistan’s foreign office condemned the Jahangirpuri skirmish in New Delhi in what was rightly seen as Islamabad trying to poke its nose into the internal affairs of India just for its vested interests. The words used in the statement by Pakistan’s foreign ministry lent credence to the fact that Islamabad always wants to seize every single “opportunity” like this to foment communal problems in India. Where is the change in Pakistan’s approach vis-à-vis India under the new prime minister in Islamabad, Shehbaz Sharif, who stated a desire for peaceful and cooperative relations with New Delhi? The question being debated in the diplomatic circles, and rightly so, is whether the mere change in government in the neighbouring nation can ensure the beginning of the end of hostilities between the two countries. A fresh push for normalization of ties between the two neighbours can be given only if Pakistan takes some immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks. This should continue to be a precondition for the resumption of any normal diplomatic dialogue process between India and Pakistan. Needless to say, India will keep this in mind while reciprocating any peace proposal from Pakistan in the future.