While the surprise brief visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the private residence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at Jaati Umra, Raiwind on Friday has rekindled hopes for revival of the peace process between archrivals India and Pakistan, several political leaders and analysts believe that serious and continuous engagement is needed from both sides to resolve all outstanding disputes between the two countries.
Talking to Pakistan Today, seasoned analyst Hassan Askari Rizvi termed Modi’s visit a step towards normalizing bilateral relations between the two neighbours.
“Such personal and informal meetings don’t solve the problems. But definitely, such personal engagements help in improving the political environment for dialogue. They also lower the level of tensions and create enabling environment to revive dialogue process,” he said.
“Such meetings are mere gestures, not a solution. Such interactions can help keep relative calm on the Line of Control (LoC) and improve the engagement level between the two armies but technical problems and conflicts need serious and continuous engagement and sagacity,” he added.
“The world powers know that both India and Pakistan have developed smart nuclear arms, which might be put to use in case of war, so there has been immense pressure on India to engage with Pakistan,” he said.
Rizvi said that he believed that Pakistan’s military establishment was also on board on Modi’s trip.
“Army and Nawaz Sharif are on the same page but the military leadership wants these personal meetings to translate in a breakthrough in conflict resolution. Unilateral concessions from Pakistan to India would strongly be resisted by the army,” he said, adding that India should at least implement agreements that have been reached over minor issues like Sir Creek and Siachen to show its sincerity towards the peace process.
Commenting on Modi’s visit, Air Marshal (r) Shahid Latif told Pakistan Today that personal engagements between both the prime ministers reflect that personal agendas are being given preference over national interests.
“It would be good if these meetings are translated into deliverance on long standing issues. But here we only see that personal objectives are being persued,” said the retired military man, adding that he did not see any immediate result out of such meetings.
“You saw PM Nawaz Sharif attended the oath-taking ceremony of PM Modi which was not reciprocated by Modi. Then we witnessed Offa talks where Kashmir was totally ignored. Here again, we saw gifts were exchanged but there is no positive outcome as yet,” he added.
Shahid Latif said he believed that Modi’s visit was planned through backchannels and an Indian business tycoon, Sajeet Jindal had played a key role in arranging the Indian PM’s visit to Pakistan.
Sajeet Jindal reportedly has very close relations with the Sharif family and is said to have arranged an hour-long meeting between Nawaz and Modi in Kathmandu during the SAARC moot. Jindal is in Lahore these days to attend the wedding of PM Nawaz’s granddaughter.
“We have to wait and see whether the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks would make any breakthrough. The meeting would expose the Indian agenda,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said that it would have been better if the Indian PM had visited Pakistan for a scheduled meeting.
Talking to reporters in Sukkur, Shah said that ties between Pakistan and India were getting sour each day and the situation at the border areas was hostile as well.
“However, Modi’s visit to Pakistan is a good thing,” Shah said.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan took to Twitter, saying that there was a “conflict of interest” for a business associate to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
The PTI chairman, however, welcomed the revival of relationships between the longstanding arch rivals.
“We welcome the thaw in Pak-India relations, but to have a business associate arrange the two prime ministers’ meetings has an underlying conflict of interest,” he tweeted.
Referring to an earlier secret meeting between the two leaders, he said, “Meetings of the two prime ministers, from the secret meeting in Kathmandu to the one in Lahore, must be done through institutional frameworks with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the loop for sustainability.”
Further, Imran said that such meetings undermine a process whereby tensions can be eased, and raises questions and conflict of interest.
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq criticised Modi’s visit to Pakistan, terming the Indian leader “a murderer”.
Speaking to reporters, Haq said Modi’s visit was not favourable to Pakistan as India had imposed three wars on Pakistan and had never accepted its existence.
“Friendship with India is not possible until issue of Kashmir is resolved,” he said.
Former foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said the Indian PM was under international pressure to start the dialogue process with Pakistan.
“Modi, during his visits to United States, China and Russia, was asked to initiate talks with Pakistan,” he told reporters at an event.
Renowned human rights activist Asma Jehangir said leadership of both the countries should use their capabilities for reducing tension.
When asked about the outcome of the visit, she said one should expect a positive outcome and it would be beneficial for the peoples of the two countries. She said the benefits of peace were enormous, but war had none other than destruction.
The good gestures would not only be fruitful for the two neighbors but also for entire region, she added.
