Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Modi could do what Congress could not' that was published in Newsband

Modi could do what Congress could not

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unannounced visit to Kabul and surprise stopover in Lahore are certainly great moments. Modi’s “dropping in” for tea to wish his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on his birthday and to give his good wishes for his grand-daughter’s wedding was a great move. He made this move when relations with both Afghanistan, over talks with the Taliban, and Pakistan, over LoC firing and the NSA talks, were very troubled.

Pakistan is like a spoilt kid, who thinks India as a soft state and had been taking India granted since a long past. While dealing with such nations, diplomatic channel is always a better option rather than emotion driven gestures. Modi's action is well intended.

This stopover is also criticized by the Congress as this party is doing nothing but criticizing every step taken by Modi since losing the election. Modi is the only leader who is not tied to the past to possibly develop good relations with Pakistan. He does not come with the baggage of Congress, Nehru and Gandhi dynasty who must be sweating in their pants.

Modi was judged wrongly by many people including leading newspapers. But for those who know Modi and his honest, hard work capabilities this is nothing. Now at least those people who voted for Modi should be thanked in spite of so much wrong news spread about him during Lok Sabha elections

The Congress position is weak and does not meet what is expected of a national and an opposition party. There is both a need and a possibility to reach peace agreement with Pakistan. Modi has done the right thing. Taking an antagonistic position seems to be the only response of the Congress party. This approach of Congress is not good for India.

Modi has taken a bold initiative and his novel way of diplomatic outreach may prove to be harbinger of enduring peace in both India and Pakistan provided it is reciprocated with equal sagacity. Now we should wait for the response from the counterpart, the Pak PM before making any critical comment. Peace on border in fact saves a lot of resources to be deployed for progress of the country. it needed courage which the Congress lacked and now it is peeved that one who it saw as an uneducated provincial leader incapable of understanding nuances of international diplomacy could achieve such a feat.

For larger interest, such initiatives are taken by brave, imaginative and intuitive parsons. Amidst a series of blunders for about a century now, only such well-meaning and bold initiatives can prove to alter the course of history for the better. If other major players also do their bit, we can have the vision of a new era of Asia heralding peace not only within but also in the world to fulfill the aspiration of Professor Slater's call to India in his Presidential address to the Indian Economic Conference in Allahabad in 1921.

The grand old Congress Party also should refrain from its destructive anti-national policy of obstructing anything and everything that the present Government is doing.