Talking to India

No one expected that Pakistan’s decision to open a corridor for Sikh pilgrims would lead to peace with India overnight. But it has still been startling to see how quickly the Narendra Modi government has dissipated the goodwill that was created. Prime Minister Imran Khan hadn’t even inaugurated the Kartarpur corridor before Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said she wouldn’t attend the upcoming Saarc summit in Islamabad. Then, in response to Imran’s statement that Pakistan and India could make peace if traditional enemies like France and Germany can now be so friendly, Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that there can be no peace until Pakistan becomes a secular state. The hypocrisy here is breathtaking. The Indian prime minister is the man who presided over the pogroms of Gujarat and was banned from entering multiple countries because of his role in the massacre of Muslims. India’s ruling party has an explicitly Hindu-supremacist ideology and has encouraged the lynching of Muslims for eating beef. Its occupation of Kashmir is directed at the Muslim majority in the area. India may be secular in name but the reality does not match up to its ideals.

Bipin’s comments are part of a general Indian strategy to demonise Pakistan. It wants to distract from its terrible human rights record on Kashmir by pointing out our faults – of which there may be many to be sure. This makes it clear that it is India that does not want peace. To its credit, the PTI government has done all it can to engage with India. The Kartarpur corridor was meant to ease travel for pilgrims and show that the two countries can work together for the common good. India clearly does not see it that way. It wants to continue portraying Pakistan as a terrorist state and to sow discord within our own borders. Under such conditions peace is impossible. Talks on any issue, be it trade, cross-border travel, terrorism or Kashmir, are only possible if both countries are willing to engage in good faith. Bipin’s remarks and before that the dismissive attitude of Swaraj show that this is not the case. We should still keep trying to pursue peace and launch worthwhile initiatives like the Kartarpur corridor while realising that it may not be possible as long as the BJP government is in power.