India-Pakistan Relations

India must avoid policy incoherence and inconsistency on PoK that has spanned decades, and navigate a course that helps reshape the domestic as well as external discourses on PoK and pursue Indian claims in a firm, consistent manner.

The political reality in PoK is that ‘azadi’ is a chimera, and substantive control of the area is shared between terrorist organisations such as the LeT and HM and the political elite of Islamabad. However, a narrative has been fed in the Kashmir Valley that Pakistan is a more favourable option than India.

India’s objective lies not in offsetting the interests of either the US or China but to walk towards its own destiny of serving humanity and global peace.

Ceding PoK as part of a settlement does not comport with India’s national and strategic interests, especially in terms of dealing with the challenge posed by China-Pakistan collaboration.

India needs to proactively buttress its broader position by affixing/prefixing the issue of Pakistan occupied Kashmir to the bilateral agenda every time the issue of Kashmir comes up for discussion.

Intelligence sharing by the Pakistani National Security Advisor (NSA) with his Indian counterpart in early March 2016 came up as an interesting outcome of the ongoing engagement between them since December 2015. Such exchange of critical information has raised the levels of expectation among the peaceniks in the subcontinent about the prospects of peace talks between the two countries, after a whole series of false starts since 2008.

In 2015, when India and Pakistan are into their 69th year of independence, this is an occasion to look back on the lost plot of their strategic engagements. The partition of an undivided India, built upon a malicious traction of ‘two-nation theory’ was further firmed-up with Pakistan’s dealings with its neighbourhood through a consistent conflict-ridden worldview. More so, this idea turned into action—and further obsession, when matters would relate to India.

Resuming talks with Pakistan sooner rather than later is important. These should now be part of a sustained effort of diplomatic outreach towards Pakistan rather than an on-and-off affair.

Even faced with the improbability of making much headway on terrorism and Kashmir in the resumed dialogue, it is still important for India to engage with Pakistan.