Modi in London

• Flight of imagination

Hopes that Modi might adopt a slightly different election strategy this time – one that would not centre around a very hostile position on Pakistan – have, unfortunately, been dashed by the Indian prime minister himself. Resurrecting the ghost of the imaginary ‘surgical strike’ from a year ago, that too in the UK, is clearly a chest thumping exercise on the international stage meant to impress the voter back home. And it is not too difficult to understand why he could do as he wished in London. PM May does not cut a very impressive figure as she prepares for post Brexit Britain by begging for trade deals with countries with large markets.

Such rhetoric also helps deflect the spotlight from real issues that he has been avoiding. There is the matter of the recurring rapes, for example, especially the rape and murder of the minor girl from Occupied Kashmir that Modi refuses to address specifically. And, of course, it keeps the questions squarely focused on Pakistan while he appears before cameras in the UK, leaving little time and space for real world issues like Kashmir, where unprecedented Indian aggression has prompted an entire generation of youth to adopt militancy; all else having failed.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has been handling the bilateral deadlock in a far more mature manner. For once, our foreign policy approach has made us appear eager for progress while India clings on to the status quo. And, considering how Indian violence in Kashmir is making news across the globe thanks to social media, etc, international opinion is bound to change even if countries like the UK still look the other way because of their precious trade deals. Having failed to deliver on the previous election’s promises, Modi’s team is once again playing the Pakistan card. But with the opposition already exposing the government in Delhi on this count, it is not likely to work as well as last time. The sooner common sense returns and talks resume, the better for everybody.