Why is Modi giving a long rope to Pakistan?

For the first time in the history of India and Pakistan, a Pakistani team is being allowed to come to India to investigate the aftermath of a terror attack that has emanated from the neighbouring country.

Look at it any which way: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invoking his power, not only as head of the government but also as the most powerful man in the BJP – and thereby sending a message to the RSS that he is willing to exercise his supreme authority to give a long rope to the Pakistani establishment and thereby give peace a chance.

It’s a very smart move. India will allow a Pakistani special investigative team (SIT) to come to the Pathankot air base, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, and India’s intelligence agencies will offer all the help that the Pakistani team wants.

So the Pakistani team will be taken around the unused shed in which the Pakistani terrorists spent 24 hours or so, eating a meal and sleeping there, biding their time. They will presumably be shown the tree or the wall which they supposedly scaled to enter the air base. The terror tour is likely to include the terrorists' movements thereafter – how they shot the chef and other civilians as well as air force personnel.

What better way to catch a thief than to show him the evidence?

Imagine the scene: An Aaj Tak pool camera follows Indian intelligence agencies showing Pakistani investigators proof of a cross-border terror attack. Here and here and here.

As the world watches, the Pakistani SIT team is confronted with the evidence, first-hand, of the terror unleashed by its own citizens.

Imagine the propaganda value of this visit.

All these years India would routinely refused Pakistani requests to “jointly investigate” terror attacks in India, saying that there was nothing to investigate as the Pakistani side “must be fully aware of what has happened”.

Before and after the Mumbai attacks, Pakistani requests to send investigative teams to India were always met with curt refusals.

“For the first time India is willing to play the game with Pakistan. India’s response has been much more rounded than before,” says a senior retired diplomat with inside knowledge of the India-Pakistan relationship.

By allowing the Pakistani SIT team to visit, not only is India able to mount pressure on the Pakistani establishment (read, Army and ISI) to take action against its own terrorists, rogue or otherwise, it supports prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s contention that terrorism has no place in Pakistan. Importantly, it shows to the international community that “India is willing to accept significant pain for the sake of peace”, and that this overture must be respected and the favour returned.

Fortunately, the terrorist trail in Pathankot is limited to the periphery and far away from any of the assets that the air base is supposed to contain. None of the aircraft were within whistling distance, fortunately, notwithstanding the fact that the potential threat was grave.

So what does this terror tourism do to the evolving India-Pakistan story and to India’s constant refrain that Pakistan must stop using its soil to carry out terror attacks against India?

The truth is that for the first time in several years, India’s political leadership is thinking with its head and willing to put its political weight behind it.

As Gujarat chief minister, Modi once promised to “obliterate” Pakistan from the face of South Asia if it dared to conduct a terrorist attack against India. As prime minister, the weight of the PM’s office on Modi’s shoulders means that he is willing to exercise power even if he will attract flak for this unconventional move.

Significantly, the comprehensive dialogue between India and Pakistan has not been called off – talks have been rescheduled in order to allow the Pakistani SIT to come to Pathankot. The two foreign secretaries will soon meet to discuss a date.

Clearly, though, all the work so far has been done between the two National Security Advisors, Ajit Doval and Nasir Khan Janjua. Their conversation in Bangkok a month or so ago, in retrospect, turns out to be a worthwhile stage-setting exercise, considering they are said to have talked about what their possible responses should be in case a terrorist attack occurs.

For the time being, the Indian side is willing to turn a blind eye to whether Jaish-i-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has indeed been arrested or not by the Pakistani establishment. The Pakistani foreign office has refused to confirm or deny the story. The Indian side is watching and waiting to see if Janjua’s promise to Doval, that Pakistan will not tolerate terror because it hurts Pakistan first and foremost, is worth its weight in gold or silver.

The Pakistani army chief Raheel Sharif, and through him, Janjua, has played his hand – he wanted a Pakistani SIT to come to Pathankot. He’s got what he wanted.

India will now wait to see what the Pakistanis do with that information. Trust must beget trust.