How Modi's Pakistan policy changed since his first Independence Day speech
"I went to Bhutan, Nepal; all the dignitaries from SAARC countries took part in oath-taking ceremony; this marked a good beginning. This will definitely yield good results, it is my belief and this thinking of India, in the country and the world, that we want to do well to the countrymen and be useful for the welfare of the world, India wants such a hand to be extended (sic).
We are trying to move forward with these dreams to achieve them." This is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said about his foreign policy priorities while delivering his first Independence Day speech on August 15, 2014. The words clearly told of a foreign policy vision that was taking shape and the thought of taking along your immediate neighbourhood seemed the immediate concern.
And when we talk about India's foreign policy in its immediate neighbourhood, the first thought obviously goes to Pakistan with whom we have had a relation of more lows and very few highs since our independence in 1947.
So when Modi invited Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, along with other SAARC leaders to his oath taking ceremony on May 26, 2014 and Sharif warmly responded to it, bypassing any chance meeting with Kashmir's separatist leaders, Modi received almost universal praise for his bold initiative to write a new script in India-Pakistan ties.
Modi certainly thought to give dialogue with Pakistan another chance under his charge in spite of the track record of Pakistan's backstabbing.
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| Modi with Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif. |
The initiative seemed to work and a personal rapport developed between Modi and Sharif. There were exchanges of mangoes, sarees and talks between officials. It seemed some breakthrough development was in the offing.
Though there were many letdowns like ceasefire violations, cross-border firings, Pakistan's high commissioner Abdul Basit's insistence on meeting with the Kashmir separatists, and the rants on Kashmir by different Pakistani leaders, it seemed Modi was still hopeful. He never sounded overtly critical of Pakistan and used his words carefully even if his silence on Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India became a national talking point.
That was the case till the Pathankot terror attack in January, 2016. He did not mention his SAARC initiative and his policy on India's immediate neighbourhood and Pakistan in his second Independence Day speech from the Red Fort on August 15, 2015.
He committed a foreign policy coup with an unscheduled visit to Lahore to meet and greet Sharif on his birthday on December 25, 2016.
It was appreciated by the policymakers the world over as an innovative approach to take on the lingering coldness and hostility in India-Pakistan ties. And even after the Pathankot attack, this warm gesture continued as reflected in the easy access given to the probe team from Pakistan that had come to India to verify the "Indian allegations" that Maulana Masood Azhar and the Jaish-e-Mohammed were behind the attack.
But things started deteriorating after it. There were conflicting reports that Pakistan had dismissed the evidence given by India. Though it has never officially been confirmed, we can say it is going to be yet another sham like the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks probe in Pakistan.
Pakistan has not responded to India's requests to allow its probe team to visit Pakistan. The neighbouring country, in fact, has never sounded serious about probing the incident. On the issue of India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Pakistan, along with China, brought together a group of countries that scuttled India's chances.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has again ratcheted up its Kashmir-rant, especially after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's killing in an encounter. Much to India's (and Modi's disappointment), Sharif and Pakistan have declared Burhan a martyr and funeral processions are being held there.
And like never before, wanted terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin are dictating terms, threatening India openly of dire consequences. It all, it seems, has made Modi uncomfortable enough to finally abandon his Pakistan policy that he had initiated two years back. It seems he has finally run out of patience. After two years of that initiative, we can now say that Modi's efforts have proved futile.
Its first indications were seen when Modi justified his Pakistan policy by saying that owing to his efforts to reach out, the world was now clearly seeing through Pakistan's sham and Pakistan was finding it hard to justify its stand on global platforms.
And on Monday (August 15), it became clearly visible when Modi took on Pakistan left, right and centre in his third Independence Day speech. During his over-90 minute speech on Monday, Modi connected threads to his first Independence Day speech by saying that he had proposed a common vision for India and its neighbours to unite and fight together the common enemy of poverty.
He clearly named Pakistan on Monday and detailed on how it promotes terrorism and how the world is now seeing through its tactics. He drew effective parallels with India's sensitive response on the terror strike on the Army school in Peshawar in December 2014 and on Pakistan's backstabbing, and doublespeak on promoting terror and fuelling unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
How detached Modi has become from his Pakistan policy that he had envisioned in May 2014 becomes clear from the fact that he is now trying to put the ball in Pakistan's court by talking openly on Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and Balochistan as he did on Sunday (August 14) and Monday.
On Sunday, during an all party meet on Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "Now the time has come that Pakistan shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against the people in Balochistan and PoK."
On Monday again, during his Independence Day address, he very categorically mentioned Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, thanking their people to reach out to India against Pakistan's atrocities. This stand has come after two years of trial and error and we can say it is now going to define Modi's Pakistan policy.