The opposition, no doubt, had whole-heartedly endorsed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision of releasing the Indian pilot by approving desk thumping during the joint parliamentary sitting of Thursday.
Reporting the same, I had forewarned that many bitter types of the PML-N would eagerly watch as to what Pakistan got in return of the unilateral looking “peace gesture.”
India has yet to respond. But Khawaja Asif revealed the points; the PML was set to drum, vigorously, in the days to come, if the “peace gesture” failed to nudge India to seriously negotiate for lasting peace in the region.
Taking the floor Friday, the former foreign minister kept reminding the joint parliamentary sitting that Prime Minister Imran Khan was employing the same strategy that Nawaz Sharif often adopted to prevent war between India and Pakistan. He was called a “traitor” for doing this.
Khawaja Asif also sounded visibly hurt while recalling that Imran Khan had himself admitted that Narendra Modi was not taking his phone calls, “while he (IK) deliberately avoided shaking hands with the opposition leader, in this hour demanding a firm display of national unity.”
Asif Ali Zardari preferred to stay subtle. Only in passing, he referred to Mumbai incident that occurred within days of his taking over as the President of Pakistan in November 2008. He managed the crisis through frequent calls to foreign leaders and took initiatives, pronounced “unpatriotic” by some of our hyper nationalists.
Instead of scoring points, the former President and the PPP leader still focused more to persuade the incumbent foreign minister for attending the OIC event that the UAE had organised.
Shusma Swaraj, the Indian foreign minister, had been invited to address one of its sittings as a “special guest.” The invitation looks odd, if you care recalling the BJP government’s obsession for asserting Hindu roots and identity of India.
After Pulwama, thousands of Kashmiri students and businesspersons endured mass scale harassment and then India opted for a “surgical air strike against Pakistan.”
Being one of the key founders of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), Pakistan is legitimately feeling hurt over the high-profile presence of India at an event related to golden jubilee celebrations of the foundations of a presumably exclusive Islamic club.
The hardheaded pragmatic in Zardari kept stressing the point that values change with times. Instead of “boycotting” the UAE-staged event, Shah Mehmood Qureshi should go there for telling our side of the story to “brotherly” countries.
Asif Ali Zardari was visibly deliberate in not mentioning the fact that the UAE had recently furnished substantive financial cushions to Pakistan, along with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It helped the PTI government to navigate through dire looking financial straits.
Both these countries have also played a crucial role in pulling India and Pakistan away from the brink of a potentially full-spectrum war.
India has yet to admit honestly that coordinated efforts, led by the USA, persuaded Pakistan to opt for a “peace gesture” and expect de-escalation in return.
Addressing the joint parliamentary sitting Thursday, the prime minister of Pakistan did confirm that during the night of Wednesday, India had been itching to hit Pakistan with missiles.
The US took notice of it. I have it from reliable sources that Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, had a long conversation with the National Security Advisor of India after dialling his number from Hanoi Wednesday night.
The UAE and the KSA diplomats remained busy in follow-up contacts. Only after extracting assurances from both countries of taking concrete steps for de-escalation, the US President spoke to global media.
Much before the announcement of “peace gesture” from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he prepared the world for “decent” and “relatively attractive” news from South Asia.
New Delhi is not feeling OK with Trump’s claim. His remarks clearly showed that once again India and Pakistan needed “third party mediation” to pull themselves away from the brink.
The diplomatic efforts by the three countries convinced Pakistan to make the first move. It obliged by making the “peace gesture.” It is now India’s turn to look good by responding positively.
Modi can’t afford to look rude and arrogant by not acknowledging the role the USA had played along with the UAE and the KSA to push both India and Pakistan on the path of de-escalation. Heading for the general elections in about three months, he would also hate to look like a loser to his people.
The Indian prime minister desperately wants the electorate to believe that with bullying display of the military muscle, he “forced” Pakistan to release the Indian pilot. The claims of a “surgical air strike” at a “terrorist camp” in Pakistan are already not finding any takers.
After de-escalation, Modi government has to sit for serious negotiations with Pakistan. Before reaching there, however, New Delhi needs to work overtime to convince its people that it was “only” negotiating to seek “real and verifiable” action against a Pakistan-based organisation, blamed for Pulwama incident.
The PTI government can’t afford to keep itself confined to “terrorism-related” questions only, while negotiating with India. The dialogue-to-be has to be comprehensive, specifically addressing the issue of Kashmir as well.