Neighbour
Tango with Pakistan
Even though Modi has raised the bar for peace talks with Islamabad , he must seize the opportunity to pull aside Khan at Bishkek to break the ice . We cannot ignore Pakistan
� Ashok K Mehta
Last October , I took a bet that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan would be invited for the swearing-in of the new Indian Prime Minister in May 2019 . This was based on the assumption that terrorist groups based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan would not raise the ante and they would not act autonomously — without sanction from the Inter-Services Intelligence ( ISI ). Second , that Narendra Modi would be
36 Legacy India | June 2019 re-elected as Prime Minister but probably with a smaller majority in Parliament . I was proved wrong on both counts . A local Kashmiri , Adil Dar , trained by Jaish-e-Mohammad as a suicide bomber , carried out Kashmir ’ s first genuine suicide attack against a CRPF convoy ( Pulwama ) killing 40 troopers ; and Modi was re-elected with a huge margin .
The electoral success of the retributive Balakot airstrikes in Pakistan was a game-changer , which led the BJP to shift the focus of its electoral campaign from the success of its elaborate welfare schemes to imperatives of national security , counterterrorism and Pakistan bashing . So , under the altered postelection scenario , inviting Khan became a non-starter . Had Pulwama not happened , it is conceivable , indeed possible , that Khan would have been in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan last week . The so-called snub to Pakistan was delivered
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