Intro : Since the very existence Pakistan is built-up on anti-Bharat ideology. Can we be very optimistic on the on-going attempts for a dialogue process? Can we expect that mere talks will bring drastic changes?
Former Israeli PM once said “You can talk with fear, but don’t fear to talk”. Keeping contact and having discussion may be fine, but the upcoming engagement between National Security Advisers (NSAs) of Bharat and Pakistan pitch to be another repetition in the script of talks and terror, if not taken a formidable stand.
If we keenly follow the Pakistani trajectory of action since Ufa – all said and done seem to be a hyperbole. Soon after the Ufa, Sartaj Aziz, Pak NSA instantly changed his stance and announced that without raising the issue of Kashmir, the talks cannot go on. Near instantaneously, the ceasefire violations started taking place, then happened the incident of Gurudaspur, followed by the attack in Udhampur. While this was going on the Pakistani High Commission was fulfilling its part by trying to engage with the Hurriyat on Eid, Pak-Independence Day and now on the pretext of NSA level talks.
| “We can’t be very much optimistic as capacity of any talks to expressively change the current setup of things is very limited. Existential setup of Pakistani ideology is based on the threat of Bharat, and one talk might not bring drastic results.” — Alok Bansal Director at Centre for Secruity & Strategy, India Foundation |
However, this platform must be used to make stern concerns of Bharat intrinsically reach the Pakistani military, and the Nawaz Sharif Government. Bharat is all set to share with Pakistan a 1,000-page dossier on Udhampur attack accused Mohammad Naved. The Bharatiya side will also confront Pakistan with evidence that the three terrorists who carried out attacks in Gurdaspur and the two terrorists who struck in Udhampur. Bharat will give the exact address of Naved’s residence at Faisalabad in Pakistan, along with the names and addresses of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) camps he attended in Pakistan. Deportation of Dawood Ibrahim and speedy trial in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case has been listed as key issue of discussion as well.
“This time the talks are little different, we are in the position of strength, our forces have been giving a befitting reply on the LoC, and our government has adopted a no-nonsense stance against Pakistan. Now it’s up to them, whether to continue with the wishy-washy state of affairs or to choose a path of recourse. Pakistan, today understands that response mechanics of Bharat are not-as same as it used be at the time of 26/11. The attacks in Udhampur and Gurdaspur, that has led to minimal casualties stand as a testimony to it”, says Major Gen (Retd) Dhruv C Katoch.
However, the esteemed defense personnel were of the opinion that time has arrived for Bharat to strongly change the direction of discourse. Instead of the discussions revolving only and mostly around the agenda of Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of Bharat must vehemently raise the counter-narrative of PoJK, that has been establishing Gilgit-Baltistan as an integral part of Bharat, but currently under illegitimate occupation of Pakistan. We definitely need to change the goal-post here.
“The way to hope cannot be hyped as fundamentals have not changed. In Bharat, the nation has an army, while in Pakistan, the army owns the nation. There’s little in the hands of Nawaz Sharif amidst the ever persisting catch-22 situation. Peace-talks should be speak of your immediate substantial interests which is currently to keep Pakistan away from your borders”, says Maj Gen (Retd) Dhruv C Katoch.
“We can’t be very much optimistic as capacity of any talks to expressively change the current setup of things is very limited. Existential setup of Pakistani ideology is based on the threat of Bharat, and one talk might not bring drastic results,” says Captain Alok Bansal, Director at Centre for Secruity & Strategy, India Foundation.
However the Government of Bharat has made it very clear that the talks will be based only on terror and the ways to control it. The topics to be discussed between the NSAs have been decided at the Ufa talks of both the Prime Ministers. One of the foremost topics mutually decided to be discussed then was terrorism. Bharat-Pakistan talks usually diminish the universality of the “where there is a will, there is a way” proverb, as even when there is a show of will, there’s hardly any way to agreeable peace. This time around, the will should exert a forceful invocation of Bharatiya interests, as Aman-ki-Asha is merely a wishful thinking. –Divyansh Dev
