Narendra Modi’s official letter to the Prime Minister, agreement on implementation of the ceasefire agreement in the armed forces, visit of Pakistan Water Commissioner to Delhi, and two statements by the Pakistan Army Chief regarding peace, these events gave the impression that Pakistan has a policy towards India. Ready to change.
The situation between Pakistan and India has been improving in recent days, after which it was believed that the ice between the two countries was melting.
Since India’s abolition of the special status of Kashmir on August 5, 2019, Pakistan’s state policy has been that there will be no talks with India until India reverses this decision.
But recent developments and statements have given the impression that Pakistan’s policy has softened and that Pakistan is ready to engage with India without the requirement of Article 370.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official letter to the Prime Minister and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s formal reply, the
Director-General of Military Operations of the two forces liaised and agreed to implement the ceasefire agreement, Pakistani Indus Water Commissioner visits New Delhi and Pakistani Army Chief Twice since the peace talks, these are all incidents that have given the impression that Pakistan is ready to change its policy towards India.
In addition, there is an improvement in sports relations. In March, Pakistan’s javelin throwing team visited India for World Cup qualifiers.
For the cricket series, there have been several reports from the cricket boards of the two countries that a series between the two countries may take place this year.
With regard to hockey, it is being said that a meeting between the presidents of the two federations may take place in May.
On February 2, the Army Chief had said at the PAF graduation ceremony in Risalpur that “it is time to extend a hand of peace to all sides.
Speaking on Pakistan-India relations in a speech at the Islamabad Security Dialogue on March 18, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said We want to forget the past and move forward. He also called for a conducive environment in Kashmir for the talks.
All these incidents gave the general impression that the ice was melting between the two countries, but the recent dispute over cotton and sugar imports has created uncertainty over Pakistan’s India policy.
New Finance Minister Hamad Azhar announced the import of sugar and cotton from India this week. After which the government faced criticism on how the government is starting trade with India keeping its own policy at bay.
The next day, after all the criticism, the federal cabinet halted the decision, saying that relations with India would not be restored until India restored Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
While the Prime Minister opposed the decision in the Cabinet to allow trade with India, as the Minister of Commerce, he himself had approved the summary for permission from the Economic Co-ordination Council. This shows the confusion over the government’s policy towards India
Speaking to The Independent Urdu on the resumption of trade relations and the subsequent reversal of the decision, journalist and analyst Talat Hussain said It proves how chaotic decision-making is on national security issues.
It is hard to believe that the decision to resume trade with India was taken without consulting the Army but then reversing that decision and the foolish arguments from ministers and advisers are a reflection of a ship without a captain.
Amjad Shoaib, a defense analyst and former general of the Pakistan Army, said in this regard that the Prime Minister also had a shortcoming.
Despite the fact that the Ministry of Commerce may have recommended it, the Prime Minister should have told him not to do so, send it to the Cabinet or send it to the Foreign Ministry first and give his views on it.
The Prime Minister did not take this path and then confusion arose. I think the Prime Minister also has a shortcoming in this.
According to Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib, “the government made a mistake because there is a political reaction to all these things.
When the story of Balakot happened, trade was banned and it was not appropriate to change the policy yet.
An element of confusion over Pakistan’s policy towards India is that in Dushanbe, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had hinted that Pakistan was ready to improve relations with India.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had told The Independent Urdu after not meeting his Indian counterpart at the Ninth Heart of Asia Conference that
I would have thought if he (Indian Foreign Minister) had wanted to meet. Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib said in this regard, It was clear to us that India’s position has softened a little.
Asked whether the government was hesitant about its relations with India, Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib said Pakistan’s policy towards Kashmir has always been clear and has not changed.
The Army Chief’s statement in the Islamabad Security Dialogue had nothing to do with policy, he deviated from the policy, it was a matter of suggestions as to what should happen next.
According to Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib, when the Army Chief said that we should bury the past, he was referring to terrorism.
That is if you (India) have to start talking, then if India repeats the same story that terrorism has stopped first, then we can also say that we have given a dossier and evidence of terrorism in India’s Pakistan. Have given Then it is impossible to talk in such a situation.
That is why the army chief said that if you move away from this thing, then we will talk further. There was no compromise on India’s move on August 5, 2019.
Commenting on Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Conference, Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib said: Anyone can meet on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia.
If there had been talks, Pakistan would have told India to resolve the Kashmir issue with us first, and then we would discuss the rest of the relationship.
How is this development being viewed in India?
To find out how this situation is being handled in India, Independent Urdu asked former Indian Chief of Integrated Defense Staff and Lieutenant General (retd) Satish Dua, who is stationed as GOC in Indian-administered Kashmir. Contacted
According to Gen (retd) Satish Dua, the events of the last two months were welcome. Re-engagement on ceasefire, two statements by Pakistan Army Chief, statements by the Prime Minister and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were creating a good atmosphere.
People in India were saying that it is good that the condition of Article 370 is not mentioned in these statements. Similarly, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to
Prime Minister Imran Khan and received a reply letter, India did not say that the talks did not take place without ending terrorism and Prime Minister Imran called for ‘excellence’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Used the word ‘370’ and did not stipulate 370.
Good words were being exchanged between the two countries. But the recent statement, which once again mentioned 370, gave mixed signals.
Asked if India was ready for talks with Pakistan, Satish Dua said, The ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India is old but it is very important to agree on its re-implementation.
The agreement is old but the spirit attached to it is new … The issuance of a joint declaration following the agreement between the two DG Military Operations is very important as no joint declaration has ever been issued by the two forces before and it seems that the intention of the Indian government was behind this declaration.
In India, the joint declaration is beyond the control of the military. In Pakistan, even if the army has a strong position, but not in India.
Speaking at the Heart of Asia Conference, the Indian Foreign Minister did not criticize Pakistan as much as in the past. Commenting on this, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that he had noticed a positive change in India’s attitude.
