Imran Khan likes India, but what about
Pak Army?
There is controversy over Punjab Minister
Navjot Singh Sidhu’s presence at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s
swearing-in ceremony. Imran Khan singled out India as a foreign policy
relationship he hoped to work on, offering to walk “two steps for every one
step” that India took. Narendra Modi responded with a phone call, and they
spoke of a shared vision of “peace and development”. Resuming
bilateral cricket is high on Imran Khan’s agenda for improving people-to-people
ties.
Well-chosen words, however, will
not be enough. Both leaders face political realities that could inhibit them from
taking any major risks. To begin
with, the situation at the Line of Control urgently needs attention, and a
restoration of the ceasefire would be a major move forward for both countries.
Imran Khan would earn more
goodwill by directly addressing India’s concerns on the support to terrorists
in Pakistan, and those being pushed over the LoC.
Imran Khan blamed the previous
government for not having a tie with India and he has promised that he will
look forward to solve Line of Control problem. But Pakistan is run by four
internal powerful forces - Pak Army, ISI, Civilian, and Terrorist groups, and
one external force - China. Any peace initiative by the civilian government is
thwarted by Pak army and ISI with the help of terror groups like Lasker and
Jaise. However, as Imran Khan is Pak army candidate, and China wants its CPEC
to be successful, we can expect some forward movement in our relation with
Pakistan. The positive remarks emanating from Pakistan cannot be discarded in
rubbish bin.
Having failed to find a solution to
Kashmir issue both India and Pakistan have demonstrated low intelligence. Pakistan
was created on the premise of superiority of a particular faith over other
faiths and is sustained by an enduring hatred and contempt for the
non-believers. As such, all peace gestures from it should be spurned by India
until it gives up its bogus claim over Kashmir and accepts it as an integral
part of India.
Engaging in a meaningful dialogue
with a clear agenda and time frame is very important. Pakistan
should stop backing the terrorists and stop killings on both sides. Restoring
peace in Kashmir is the top most priority. Talk and carry on talking until both sides realize that peace serves
both countries. We have a lot in common, be it poetry, language and cinema
topics, not to mention the food. But
terrorism and Kashmir are the major
hurdles, but history teaches us that all issues can be solved.
Only if the governments of both countries
act above their party lines, peace would be a possibility. Or else, the
tensions may continue. In the last four years, India has become a de-facto
Hindu state and the trust factor has definitely taken a big hit in this period.
The two nations were born on religious grounds. But for
India we had a PM who was agnostic and
moved it towards a secular agenda.
Modi has been criticized globally
for his numerous failures and hence expecting any miraculous things from Imran
will also be the same. It is all about just wait and watch because Politicians
are more interested in earning from the issues rather than resolving them
permanently.
No Pak PM can decide the fate of
the India-Pak relationship. Pak Army Chief’s message to Sidhu about the policy
decision to open Dera Baba Nanak corridor soon, conveys unmistakably who rules
the roost there. Pak is cleverly playing on Punjabi bonhomie. Imran Khan (IK),
as PM, is also going to reside in military secretary's house! IK has been an
unapologetic supporter of Taliban, earning him the sobriquet 'Taliban Khan', as
well as the founding member of Diffa-e-Pakistan, a group of terrorist and
extremist organizations formed to prevent any thawing of relationship between
India & Pak. His close advisers like Quereshi and Shireen Mazari are very
shrill anti-India crusaders. With razor-thin majority, IK is under Army’s
thumb.
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