Neighbouring country Pakistan, after a tumultuous month, has a new prime minister in Shehbaz Sharif. The country witnessed massive political turmoil leading to the resignation of Imran Khan as PM. India will have to deal with a PM who is known to have a hostile view in regards to the Kashmir issue. Sharif followed a familiar script, reeking of duplicity and deception, while expressing a desire for better ties with India. By adding a rider that peace is not possible with India until the resolution of the Kashmir dispute according to the UN resolutions, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief has demonstrated an obsessively narrow approach that has traditionally characterised Islamabad’s policy towards India. Moreover, the new prime minister, who has an unenviable task of tackling multiple crises facing his country, chose the first address after his election to vow to raise the Kashmir issue at international forums and offer “diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris.”
He also hit out at New Delhi for scrapping Article 370, ending the special status of Jammu & Kashmir. The Pakistani leadership must bear in mind that cross-border terrorism is the single most important issue that needs to be tackled for the normalisation of bilateral ties. There is a growing realisation across the world that Pakistan has become a hub for global terror and that it continues to pursue the policy of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy to inflict the much-touted ‘death by thousand cuts’ on India. The onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility, so that the resumption of dialogue to sort out all issues, including Kashmir, is possible. Given the trust deficit between Pakistan’s words and actions, India needs to wait for credible signs from the new dispensation about its commitment to the resumption of bilateral dialogue. Talks cannot happen in a vacuum.