Pak-India ties - now

The cancellation of the recent pre-planned meeting between advisers on national security of Pakistan and India took place on a lame pretext – Sartaz Aziz’s intended meeting with Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders. The cancellation of talks – which has now become a habit with India – is clearly indicative of India’s new policy towards Pakistan, which is based on hubris.
Prime Minister Modi and his National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s clear intention it seems is to bring about a paradigm shift in the Indo-Pak relations. Due to India’s newly found hubris in Hindutva, it considers Pakistan to be a much inferior state – in terms of international influence as well as military might. India feels that it is in a position to dictate to Pakistan its own terms in case any negotiations are held. In the absence of any talks India is following an active policy through its intelligence network and external affairs ministry to destabilise and isolate us. In the circumstance, when we have unsuccessfully exhausted all our options for normalising relations with India, we should also stop hankering for improving ties with India. It is quite clear that till such time that the Modi government rules in India relations between the two countries will not improve. Pakistan and Muslim-bashing is the central plank of the BJP under Narendra Modi, which it will not give up lightly. We should instead utilise our energies in representing our case on Kashmir and other issues on international fora. This would be a good way of gaining moral edge over India which we seem to have lost over the years.
Akbar Jan Marwat
Islamabad
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This refers to the news report, ‘India cancels talks over Hurriyet leaders meeting’ (August 22). It seems India wants to show the international community that the flaw lies with us: that it was we who sabotaged the planned peace dialogue at the eleventh hour because of our insistence to go ahead with our meeting with the Kashmiri leaders, which has been a norm all along.
If the Kashmir issue is non-negotiable what purpose does it serve to have been held hostage to guns for all these long years since independence? If India says only terrorism should be discussed, does it mean that the freedom struggle Kashmiris so valiantly waging against the Indian atrocities is terrorism? At least this is what we understand after reading the Indian press. Both the countries should come to the negotiating table for a better, peaceful future.
Zoha S M
Turbat