- Don’t harm people inadvertently
That Pakistan would take a wide-ranging number of steps in reaction to the Indian abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, and the protections granted to Kashmiris under Article 35A, was inevitable. However, these reactions should be examined from the angle of effectiveness and of whether they might not have a negative impact on ordinary people, either in Pakistan or Kashmir. It would seem that the expulsion of the Indian Ambassador, and the refusal to fill the Ambassadorship to New Delhi, would not do much to persuade the Indian government to reverse its actions over Kashmir, but they send a clear signal that Pakistan does not think that business can go on as usual. More significantly, it indicates to the rest of the world that Pakistan does not think that further efforts to engage India will bear fruit
In the same way, Pakistan’s other steps may not reverse India’s trampling over the rights of Kashmiris, but some steps had a certain inevitability, being a dotting of i’s and crossing of t’s, like the suspension on cultural exchanges. These had not resumed since the crisis earlier in the year over the Pulwama incident, so it was more a formalisation and an extension. The ban on exhibiting Indian films was also inevitable, but with the apparent revival of the Pakistani film industry, will probably not affect even film distributors and exhibitors that much.
Once more shutting down the Samjhauta Express might see people stranded on both sides on the wrong side of the border. Unfortunately, the train is used mostly by people who cannot afford such a sudden mishap, who have visited the other country only because their family is split. The ban on Indian airliners overflying Pakistani airspace will impact affluent Indians (because airlines will have to raise fares to compensate for finding alternate, more expensive, routes), but any pressure exerted because of this will almost surely not convince New Delhi to reverse its steps. The shutting down of trade affects mostly perishable goods, and in that respect, perhaps the most suffering will be on the traders who import fruit and vegetables from Indian Held Kashmir. Pakistani steps will not have much effect on New Delhi, because the government there is not composed of reasonable people.
