Much at stake
The forthcoming meeting between the national security advisors of Pakistan and India will determine whether there is going to be any respite to the prevailing level of tension. In case the meeting goes well it would help, among other things, to reduce persistent border provocations. Indian hostility at the Line of Control as well as Working Boundary has increased in proportion with its diplomatic onslaught against Pakistan, which Islamabad has raised at relevant international fora. In case it fails to take place or remains fruitless, however, there is a possibility of the ante on both sides being upped, benefiting neither.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner in India has invited the Hurriyet leaders to meet Sartaj Aziz on the same day he is scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. There was nothing unusual about the meeting as Hurriyet leaders have in the past been regularly invited to meet visiting dignitaries from Pakistan. Last year a meeting of the sort was however used by the Modi government to call off the scheduled talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries. This amounted to introducing a new red line in bilateral relations.
The suspension of dialogue has not made South Asia in any way securer or safer. It has instead added to the existing strains leading to a series of incidents of cross border exchange of fire. The attempt to pump national pride by organising a carnival in New Delhi to mark the 50 anniversary of 1965 war has led to a reciprocal move by Pakistan. Acrimonious statements by India’s interior and defence ministers have further contributed to bad blood. Modi’s statements in Dhaka in June and in Dubai early this week have added fuel to the fire.
Pakistan and India face highly serious threats like poverty, terrorism, global warming and water shortages. None of these can be met single-handedly. The opportunity created by NSA level talk must not, therefore, be lost. India needs to abandon the big power bluster while Islamabad needs to realise that India’s projection of power in the region cannot be contained through military means alone.
