- UNGA will be the only indication of where the two governments stand
Pakistan-India, Muslim-Hindu is a tale too old to not be familiar with. What we’ve read in the long pages of history, isn’t far from what’s still happening. Both of these countries are divided by a thin line of a border that is thicker only ideologically.
As is standard for any new government, the PTI-led government also took concrete steps in engaging diplomatically with India. The meeting between Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj was scheduled to be held in New York after the United Nations General Assembly. The invitation was accepted by India on 20th September and rejected the very next day, on 21st September. The un/acceptance has been at the centre of great critique from both sides of the border.
Not only has the Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat accused Pakistan of enticing violence in India-held Kashmir, but has also hinted at carrying out another surgical strike in the disputed Kashmir region. This bellicose military stance is in line with the celebrations for the second anniversary or Surgical Strike Day for an event, which Pakistan denies ever happened.
While India’s relationship with Pakistan has always been a classic case of casus belli, this time around the over-assertion seems to be extremely misplaced. Pak-India relations are a tense matter for both on either side of the border and policy makers have always put these foreign policy matters a top priority.
Evidence of this can be seen in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s victory speech where he specifically said that any indication from India would be met with twice the effort from Pakistan. And this promise was met with taking the first step towards inviting the arch enemy for a meeting between the two foreign ministers, after what is the largest diplomatic engagement in the world – the UNGA session.
While taking all critical matters to the Parliament, which is covered extensively by media would take the light away from when the matter is discussed, creating consensus at the domestic level
There can be two plausible explanations to this behaviour – India’s inability to create a favourable consensus for Pakistan after Prime Minister Narindra Modi has spent five years radicalising public opinion against Pakistan and Muslims; and understanding that not the country but the man in power in Pakistan, is the more important prerequisite for any engagement. Images of Modi stopping over at Lahore, to attend the wedding reception of ex-PM’s granddaughter still run afresh in everyone’s minds. During the last five years, no sizeable diplomatic engagement between the two countries took place, however, ceremonial visits were far from it. And while blame game over the atrocities in Kashmir persisted at the United Nations, the personal leverage between the two Prime Ministers couldn’t be harnessed for greater national goals.
But this is something of the past now. PM Khan would have to understand his own country before he can get ahead with forging new alliances. While the state visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after ten years is ground breaking for the new government, matters related to India need to be taken with a pinch of salt, and taken only after the entire Parliament is taken in confidence. At a time when new precedents are being set, pacifying opposition, especially for foreign policy decisions is an important move.
Former Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani critiqued PM Khan’s letter in which he wrote, “…we are ready to discuss terrorism.” While the government’s sentiments can be termed to be in good spirit, caution for terms such as ‘terrorism’ is to be exercised. Not only has this term been excessively misinterpreted, also has the fallacy of being the main bone of contention between Pakistan and its relations with India, United States, and Afghanistan, mainly. Of course questions like how to deal with the problem couldn’t be detailed in the letter, at best the matter should’ve been left for direct engagement later.
While taking all critical matters to the Parliament, which is covered extensively by media would take the light away from when the matter is discussed, creating consensus at the domestic level for a foreign policy decision, especially with India would help get majority of the government behind a single decision. This will also remove any anomalies that might occur later on. Perhaps this might turn out to be an unfavourable decision, but if the new government wants to work under the paradigm of democracy, this is the way forward. Creating space for dialogue within the Parliament is the only move forward. Direct engagement is something that PM Khan is known for and this should continue.
At this time when “Mere azeez hamwatno…” is no longer the order of the day, social media handles, especially Twitter should be used with the utmost care. Blasting tweets calling Indian counterparts as ‘small men occupying big posts’ isn’t a move in the right direction. We have to do this differently this time if we want to have better relations after all.
For all this, the UNGA will be the only indication of where the two governments stand and what little could be offered as strategic bait for the bigger elephant in the room: the Kashmir dispute.