Modi sarkar can mend fences with Pakistan
Put Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on his maiden trip to Srinagar and the Times of India front-page lead is just the kind of news to expect. So, no surprises really that cross-LoC tension precedes his two-day ‘security tour’ and the new government rules out the kind of thaw that Modi’s invitation to Nawaz had led some to believe. And Congress lobbyists, still reeling from the election humiliation, are unfair to Modi when they say his defence minister merely parroted the previous administration’s line – that LoC violations must stop for normalisation to proceed – despite their fierce campaign rhetoric. After all, what better than a provocative statement to put the election agenda into gear? And perhaps the sabre rattling will stiffen. That is, if that is what Modi wants.
Truth be told, the future of this ‘normalisation’ lies more in Modi’s hands than Nawaz’s. The latter has made his intention of reaching out, to mutual benefit, quite clear for some time now. And controlling dissent among his core, centre-right, anti-India lobby would not have been the easiest of tasks, so his direction is pretty clear. But merely tossing the ball over the net will not work. Modi has to be at the other side, dressed and ready to play.
Also, good thing about cross LoC tension is – if there can be something good about it – that it can be investigated and, should there be mutual will, a workable mechanism can be developed to prevent future ‘mistakes’. The agreement reached last year, that DGMOs of both militaries remain in touch to review the situation, should be revived, and taken forward. They should also hold regular meetings, and take effective steps that roll back friction in and around the occupied area. But such steps will require strong will among both leaderships, and India will have to reciprocate Pakistan’s goodwill. Failing that, the blame game will go on, and tiny steps towards normalisation will not break the Pak-India freeze.
