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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was at her eloquent best when she described India-Pakistan ties as a “road filled with potholes on which at times car shock absorbers break and tyres get punctured, but each time we stabilise and talk again”. Like the road to hell, it is also paved with good intentions that have gone terribly wrong, the latest being the ugly failure of the Ufa agreement to resume the stalled dialogue. As one diplomat involved in the negotiations put it, “We knew it was over when Pakistan began backtracking days after the Ufa agreement in July. But it was decided to play out the family drama in public so that you are not accused of beating your wife.”
So what went wrong? The main reason is that Narendra Modi, in his role as India’s prime ambassador, is developing a new Indian car to drive on the perilous road towards peace with Pakistan, which Islamabad wants to forestall. India Mark M (for Modi) is fitted with the horsepower of a government that commands a majority. It has spacious windows to view its neighbours, including Pakistan, through a wider spectrum, and has a turbo switch to accelerate the three Cs that Modi is pushing for: contact, connectivity and co-operation. It is also fitted with protective armour and fire power to withstand and repel any malicious attack.
Modi, along with his navigators, which include his cabinet colleagues, RSS and BJP brass and officials such as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, is working on a new roadmap to deal with Pakistan. He believes that Islamabad’s game plan of forcing India to drive through Kashmir first with the haranguing Hurriyat in the backseat needs to be thwarted. Instead Modi and his team are working on two new routes: an international and a domestic.
The international route follows a circuitous highway to bring pressure on Pakistan, particularly its Army, to curb its terror apparatus. So Modi, in the many countries that he has travelled to since he became the PM, has not just pushed his economic agenda but has constantly harped on an international consensus on curbing terror. Even at the UN, he called for a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism to deal with countries abetting terror (meaning Pakistan).
Modi has also worked quietly to wean away Pakistan’s supporters in the Muslim street, particularly the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. The Prime Minister’s recent visit to UAE where he signed an anti-terror pact with the Crown Prince has shaken Islamabad as it regarded UAE as one of its closest allies. What Modi is trying to do is to build a ring of countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, that will support India’s call to prod Pakistan into controlling its terror apparatus.
The other route that Modi is working on originates from Delhi and he would prefer it reaches Islamabad via the Wagah border instead of the torturous route through Kashmir. Modi believes that before dealing with contentious issues, Pakistan must show proof of sincerity by clearing major speed-breakers such as the go-slow on the process to indict the 26/11 attackers. Also to stop the ceasefire violations and restore tranquility on the border.
On Kashmir, Modi and his team state that ejecting Hurriyat was not done out of pique but part of a larger game plan. That the red line they have drawn in Pakistan involving the Hurriyat-which saw two rounds of talks collapse-is part of the narrative change that they want for the Kashmir imbroglio. In the Valley, Modi is confident that he has better cards to play than his predecessors as a PDP-BJP coalition rules J&K for the first time. Modi is clear: Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and those who participated in the Assembly elections are the true representatives of the state, rather than the Hurriyat which has steadfastly refused to test its strength in an electoral battle. While inviting the Hurriyat for receptions hosted by Pakistan High Commission may be fine, any move to incorporate them into the official-level talks would be a non-starter.
Modi’s line on Kashmir is likely to get even tougher. While previous governments had not raised the issue of Azad Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) for years, Modi’s team is now asking questions about the legitimacy of Islamabad’s hold over the territory. They point out that Azad Kashmir is the real unfinished business of Partition as Pakistan had illegally occupied it. So it must also be on the table while discussing Kashmir. They insist that the road to peace in the Valley must traverse through Azad Kashmir.
Under Doval, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, the government is building hard evidence to expose Pakistan’s terror network, including its involvement in the Gurdaspur attack. This was to be part of the dossier that Doval was to hand over to his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz at the aborted talks, and then sent to capitals across the world. Also for border violations, the government’s instructions to its forces is to hit harder than what they get, as seen recently when Pakistan ramped up tensions to scuttle the talks.
Although India Mark M is on overdrive while dealing with other countries, what the car still lacks is puncture-proof tyres and efficient shock absorbers to overcome the obstacles that Pakistan, particularly its army, continues to create as it did after Ufa. Pakistan is a wily adversary. Modi and his team need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how they can successfully navigate the minefield of India-Pakistan relations. If he has to succeed, Modi needs to come up with a win-win formula for both countries
The PM's changed narrative to navigate relations with Islamabad is fraught with risks : GROUND ZERO - India Today
So what went wrong? The main reason is that Narendra Modi, in his role as India’s prime ambassador, is developing a new Indian car to drive on the perilous road towards peace with Pakistan, which Islamabad wants to forestall. India Mark M (for Modi) is fitted with the horsepower of a government that commands a majority. It has spacious windows to view its neighbours, including Pakistan, through a wider spectrum, and has a turbo switch to accelerate the three Cs that Modi is pushing for: contact, connectivity and co-operation. It is also fitted with protective armour and fire power to withstand and repel any malicious attack.
Modi, along with his navigators, which include his cabinet colleagues, RSS and BJP brass and officials such as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, is working on a new roadmap to deal with Pakistan. He believes that Islamabad’s game plan of forcing India to drive through Kashmir first with the haranguing Hurriyat in the backseat needs to be thwarted. Instead Modi and his team are working on two new routes: an international and a domestic.
The international route follows a circuitous highway to bring pressure on Pakistan, particularly its Army, to curb its terror apparatus. So Modi, in the many countries that he has travelled to since he became the PM, has not just pushed his economic agenda but has constantly harped on an international consensus on curbing terror. Even at the UN, he called for a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism to deal with countries abetting terror (meaning Pakistan).
Modi has also worked quietly to wean away Pakistan’s supporters in the Muslim street, particularly the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. The Prime Minister’s recent visit to UAE where he signed an anti-terror pact with the Crown Prince has shaken Islamabad as it regarded UAE as one of its closest allies. What Modi is trying to do is to build a ring of countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, that will support India’s call to prod Pakistan into controlling its terror apparatus.
The other route that Modi is working on originates from Delhi and he would prefer it reaches Islamabad via the Wagah border instead of the torturous route through Kashmir. Modi believes that before dealing with contentious issues, Pakistan must show proof of sincerity by clearing major speed-breakers such as the go-slow on the process to indict the 26/11 attackers. Also to stop the ceasefire violations and restore tranquility on the border.
On Kashmir, Modi and his team state that ejecting Hurriyat was not done out of pique but part of a larger game plan. That the red line they have drawn in Pakistan involving the Hurriyat-which saw two rounds of talks collapse-is part of the narrative change that they want for the Kashmir imbroglio. In the Valley, Modi is confident that he has better cards to play than his predecessors as a PDP-BJP coalition rules J&K for the first time. Modi is clear: Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and those who participated in the Assembly elections are the true representatives of the state, rather than the Hurriyat which has steadfastly refused to test its strength in an electoral battle. While inviting the Hurriyat for receptions hosted by Pakistan High Commission may be fine, any move to incorporate them into the official-level talks would be a non-starter.
Modi’s line on Kashmir is likely to get even tougher. While previous governments had not raised the issue of Azad Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) for years, Modi’s team is now asking questions about the legitimacy of Islamabad’s hold over the territory. They point out that Azad Kashmir is the real unfinished business of Partition as Pakistan had illegally occupied it. So it must also be on the table while discussing Kashmir. They insist that the road to peace in the Valley must traverse through Azad Kashmir.
Under Doval, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, the government is building hard evidence to expose Pakistan’s terror network, including its involvement in the Gurdaspur attack. This was to be part of the dossier that Doval was to hand over to his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz at the aborted talks, and then sent to capitals across the world. Also for border violations, the government’s instructions to its forces is to hit harder than what they get, as seen recently when Pakistan ramped up tensions to scuttle the talks.
Although India Mark M is on overdrive while dealing with other countries, what the car still lacks is puncture-proof tyres and efficient shock absorbers to overcome the obstacles that Pakistan, particularly its army, continues to create as it did after Ufa. Pakistan is a wily adversary. Modi and his team need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how they can successfully navigate the minefield of India-Pakistan relations. If he has to succeed, Modi needs to come up with a win-win formula for both countries
The PM's changed narrative to navigate relations with Islamabad is fraught with risks : GROUND ZERO - India Today
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