Indo-Pak relationship: Which way will it go in 2010?
By Tridivesh Singh Maini February 17, 2010Region: Middle East
Topic: Emerging Threats
The first few weeks of 2010 were witness to some unnecessary sparring between senior functionaries of the Indian and Pakistani governments. It all started with a statement by the Pakistani Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, 'that Islamabad could not guarantee against a repeat of 26/11' and an equally aggressive retort will have serious repercussions on bilateral ties’ from the usually restrained SM Krishna. Threats of another 26/11 like attack around the republic day vitiated the atmosphere further.
The exclusion of Pakistani cricketers from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2010, did no favors to the already acrimonious relationship between the two nuclear states. The fact is that citizens of both countries, including those committed to peace, have become accustomed to establishments spewing venom against each other. Cricket however is something which transcends barriers of religion, nationality and class. This game, a hangover of the Raj, is as Harold Larwood said ‘a reason for living’ for many in the sub-continent. It came as no surprise then that Pakistanis reacted to this decision by cancelling all their delegations to India, including a Parliamentary delegation which was to visit India. Pakistani Interior Minister, Rahman Malik demanded an apology from the Indian authorities for humiliating Pakistani players. Pakistani Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Chaudhry Nisar went to the degree of asking for a ban on the screening of Indian movies in Pakistan.
Fortunately, the vast majority of Indians including the Home Minister P Chidambaram, who in the recent past has been harsh on Pakistan, criticized the unfortunate exclusion of Pakistani players from the IPL tournament. Chidambaram was quick to state "...I think it is disservice to cricket that some of these players were not picked. I don't know why the IPL teams acted in the manner they acted. But certainly to suggest that there was a hint or nudge from the Government is completely untrue," Chidambaram told a TV news channel. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna too was quick to distance himself from the decision stating that the government had nothing to do with the selection. Sane reactions from both Chidambaram and Krishna definitely helped in assuaging the feelings of Pakistanis and Indians who were shocked.
After the verbal duels between political leaders of both countries and the unfortunate exclusion of Pakistani cricketers from the Indian Premier League, there seems to be some good news at last. India’s Home Minister, P Chidambaram who has held an aggressive posture vis-à-vis Pakistan, until now, will be attending the ‘SAARC Home and Interior Ministers’ Conference’ scheduled in Islamabad. Chidambaram, who will be the highest Indian official visiting Pakistan ever since the Mumbai attacks, also hinted at the possibility of resuming bilateral talks with Pakistan.
There have also been strong indications that dialogue between foreign secretary’s of both countries will resume soon. While the Indian side has made it unequivocally clear that talks will focus only on terrorism, the Pakistani side has welcomed the Indian side’s openness to resume dialogue. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi praised the Indian side’s willingness to resume talks. Remarked Qureshi, "The only logical way forward henceforth is engagement between India and Pakistan. You can't have two important neighbours not talking to each indefinitely. Neither India nor Pakistan are gaining from this disengagement; only the terrorists are. Pakistan has always been advocating the resumption of dialogue,". While with Indo-Pak relations even the best of soothsayers would refrain from predicting the future course, it is heartening to see that at least for now, political establishments on both sides of the Radcliffe divide seem to be paying some heed to Winston Churchill’s words, ‘ It is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war’.
The writer is a Research Associate with The Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal.
