Riding high on the efficient
delivery of welfare schemes and national security credentials Modi returned
back to power with bigger mandate. Imran Khan joined all other world leaders in
sending congratulatory message to Modi on his spectacular victory. As if
preparing ground for resumption of talks between India and Pakistan, Khan has
even called Modi. Known for his pragmatic outreach and keenness in revitalising
ties with neighbourhood, analysts believed Modi would roll out the 2014 script.
Much to the surprise of Pundits, Modi royally ignored Pakistan. He thrashed
hopes of Pakistani lobby who anticipated Modi’s invite to Khan for the swearing
in ceremony. Instead, giving a massive fillip to India’s eastward engagement he
invited BIMSTEC leaders. Even before a campaign for resuming talks by the usual
suspects could gain momentum, Pakistan showed its true colours by harassing
guests invited to India Mission’s Iftar party in Islamabad.
Pakistan’s eagerness to engage with
India became stronger as delegation level talks of FAFT (Financial Action Task
Force) supposed to take stock of its grey-listing neared and with its tottering
economy slumping to 157 Pakistani Rupee for an American Dollar. Forex reserves
touched a new low. Inflation reached double digits. Indeed, in the first week
of June, Pakistan took cursorial decisions of imposing curbs on Jamaat-ud-Dawa
(JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and announced a cut in defence budget reinforcing its
intent of complying with FATF guidelines. A reality check reveals that Pakistan simply
refrained from increasing defence budget and termed this as voluntary cut. Even
its much-touted propaganda of shutting down 11 terror camps seems to be
reversible with Pakistani watchers confirming it as temporary move. Coming
under intense international pressure of being downgraded to FATF black-list
Pakistan is now resorting to some face-wash measures.
After Pulwama attacks, India held
talks with delegates of major countries and apprised them of Pakistan’s
state-sponsor terrorism. Invoking right to defend, India launched Balakot
attacks after Pakistan’s inaction. International community supported India’s retributory
strikes with no civilian casualty. Simultaneously, India unleashed a slew of
retributory economic, cultural and political measures. With the designation of
Masood Azhar as international terrorist, India not only scored a diplomatic
victory but managed to successfully isolate Pakistan. Despite the setbacks
Pakistan which managed to get $6 billion bail out package from IMF believed
that it could even hoodwink and convince India to resume talks with its seemingly
perfunctory clamp down measures on terror.
For the past seven decades, after
every terror attack, international community always thrusted the burden of resumption
of bilateral talks on India. After Khan’s second letter to Modi for talks,
White House announced that Pakistan should prepare conducive environment to
resolve the bilateral tensions. This marks the demolition of Pakistan’s
orchestrated portrayal of India as aggressor.
Post Balakot attacks, Pakistan has
closed its airspace posing severe inconveniences to airlines, travellers.
Logistics of international travel has increased substantially. But Pakistan has
shown no sign of opening up airspace creating a false notion of threat from
India in the international community. India eased restrictions on airspace from
June 1st but Pakistan didn’t reciprocate.
With Modi set to attend the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Indian officials requested Pakistan to
allow the Prime Minister to fly through Pakistan. Several news reports
indicated that Pakistan “in principle” agreed to open air space. But Pakistan’s
dilly-dallying tactics evoked suspicions of its intent. Pakistani decision
makers eventually perceived this favour as weakness and willingness of India to
compromise. Denying Pakistan, the pleasure of having an upper hand by way of
bestowing concessions, Modi avoided Pakistani airspace. Instead he took a
longer route of flying via Iran, Oman and Central Asia. This not only
reinforced India’s firm stance of talks and terror can’t go together but exposed
Pakistan’s hostile act of inflicting costs through closure of airspace. Though
Pakistani media and lobby groups have been working overtime to portray Khan as
messiah of peace, Islamabad’s insincere, half-hearted and dishonest measures
unmasked Pakistan’s duplicity.
Despite repeated official
clarifications obstinate shutter cocks and Pakistan sympathisers began to
inundate the political dispensation with the narrative of need for breaking ice
with Islamabad. Given subcontinent’s obsession with Indo-Pakistan official as
well as unofficial engagement, SCO Summit, where the Prime Ministers of both
India and Pakistan are supposed to meet topped the strategic conversation.
People expected “Ufa” kind of moment, where Indian Prime Minister Modi and
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2015 held bilateral talks along the
sidelines of SCO summit. Media trumpeted this meeting as a ground breaking
event. But Pakistan reciprocated this engagement with Pathankot attack. The
realism of Pakistan’s peace overtures was busted. Modi’s peace initiative
suffered a huge blow. Indeed, Ufa had been just one of many hyped-up meetings
between heads of both government which were artificially blown up for its
optics.
Putting an end to the theatrics,
the art Pakistan has excelled in, Prime Minister Modi avoided any kind of
interaction with his Pakistani counterpart though they crossed each other on
seven different occasions during the course of two-day long SCO summit. Reports say that Khan has congratulated Modi
on his electoral victory and both leaders exchanged pleasantries on the
concluding day of the summit. While India is under no pressure whatsoever now
to engage with Pakistan, Khan who is facing international rebuke for supporting
terror, is desperate to initiate talks. At SCO summit, taking an indirect dig
at Pakistan, Modi lashed out at nations sponsoring terror and condemned all
forms and manifestations of terror. He urged nations to bolster counter
terrorism cooperation to make this world a safe place to live. Once again to
the discomfort of Pakistan, terror topped the agenda of SCO summit followed by
economy and connectivity.
Successive Indian leaderships adopted
policy of blow hot, blow cold kind of policy. Pakistan extracted its pound of flesh due to
India’s ambivalence. India never displayed a steely resolve to bring Pakistan’s
to its knees. With retaliatory Balakot strikes Modi government has discovered
options below nuclear threshold. Post-Pathankot attack, India has not engaged
with Pakistan and maintained a hard-line position. Time “Naya Pakistan” realise that much bolder
and audacious Modi 2.0 it not ready to make concessions without commensurate
returns.
@ Copyrights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment