There has been a recent flurry of diplomatic activity in Pakistan with the fight against militants at the epicentre. Ashraf Ghani’s visit was a thawing in the frigid Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship and after the Abbotabad incident this is the first time that the militaries of the US and Pakistan are approaching each other in amiable terms. The changing of the guard at Kabul has ushered in a paradigm shift, the US is adamant in avoiding another Iraq-like implosion, and is willing to engage all stakeholders, including the mercurial Pakistani regime. Afghanistan is turning over a new chapter, hoping to engage directly with the Pakistani governments in a bid to ensure that fears, real or perceived, of Indian interference can be pre-empted. Pakistan finds itself in a position where it has some leverage in bilateral relations, and being cognizant of that, it is attempting to bring it to bear.
According to an anonymous source in a BBC Urdu report, General Raheel Sharif, during a meeting with US counterparts, said that Indian cross border shelling is interfering with the efforts against the militants in North Waziristan. Although these statements cannot be confirmed, they are not unbelievable. It was expected that the army chief would try to utilise US-Indian relations, which have been getting stronger over time, to try to put a damper on Indian aggression and war mongering. With bilateral talks hitting a brick wall, and multilateral organizations seemingly uninterested in the conflict, manoeuvring India’s allies might be the only solution. His actions have unsurprisingly drawn Indian ire; they complain that Pakistan should try to solve the issue bilaterally. Ironically, this is the same nation that has stone walled any attempts at fostering better bilateral ties. It is time Pakistan jettisons conclusively Indian demands that conflicts need to be solved internally. The only way to affect a bullish state is to bring in other power players.