MODI SHARPENS ATTACK ON PAKISTAN, INDIA-PAK PENDULUM SWINGS AGAIN

NEW DELHI: The bonhomie of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing in ceremony gave way to a sharp attack by him on Pakistan’s “proxy war of terrorism against India.” Modi was visiting Leh and Ladakh where he addressed the Army soldiers and said that Pakistan had lost the strength to fight a conventional war.

Modi had earned accolades in Pakistan and sections within India for extending an invitation to all Saarc heads of government and state to attend the solemn ceremony ushering in the new government. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had accepted the invitation, as had all the other member nations.

Sharif had invited Modi to visit Pakistan, which he had accepted. Subsequently government functionaries had made it clear that the dialogue with Pakistan would be accelerated. The Prime Minister during his maiden visit to Leh, and second visit to Jammu and Kashmir, said that the Indian armed forces were suffering more casualties from terrorism than from war.

The PM said that all humanitarian forces of the world should unite to fight terrorism and that India “is committed to strengthening and uniting these humanitarian forces.”

Bilateral relations between India and Pakistan have not moved forward, as was being anticipated by some, in the wake of Sharif’s visit. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament that the government was making every effort to arrest underworld don Dawood Ibrahim who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan. He said, “we are trying to arrest him. Wherever he is, we will arrest him. Any criminal evading justice should be brought to book. That was the effort of the previous government and it is the effort of our government too.”

Pakistan has been worried about a possibly adverse impact on its relations with India with the Modi government in power. The worry stems also from the volatile nature of its western border with Pakistan, with Islamabad not keen to open a new front with India at this stage. India on the other hand, has been worried about the impact of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan on Kashmir with several high level discussions taking place on this issue. The strategic community is divided with some seniors maintaining that the impact will not be immediate or intense, and others equally insistent that the terror groups currently occupied in Afghanistan will move into Jammu and Kashmir as well.

Although the PM’s Leh speech can also be attributed to the nature of his visit---to address the soldiers---and the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is going for the elections, the new government has still to spell out its policy on Pakistan in real terms. The chemistry between Modi and Sharif at their brief meeting was not particularly visible, with the latter looking ill at ease. Some preliminary talks have been held, but according to sources, nothing substantive or concrete has been decided upon yet. So far the bilateral relations are as always, uneasy and on a shaky see-saw.