using the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ( BIMSTEC ) to sideline South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ( SAARC ), which is like cutting your nose to spite your face .
From day one of his election , the khaki Prime Minister Khan has kept talks with India his primary foreign policy goal . He has not missed any opportunity to urge India to resolve all outstanding issues , including
Kashmir , through dialogue . Even at the height of the Balakot conflict , he requested Modi for talks and released Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as a peace gesture . The Modi threat of launching 12 ballistic missiles on Pakistani cities is as big a fantasy as his avowed intention to use nuclear weapons — in reality , dangerous election rhetoric .
After the terrorist attack on the Parliament in 2001 and India ’ s tepid response with Operation Parakram , the Vajpayee Government paved the way for a backchannel dialogue to be started in 2004 between two civilian interlocutors , which culminated in the 4 / 5-point Kashmir formula , the closest the two countries have reached on a political settlement on Pakistan ’ s core issue . India ’ s core concern of terrorism was addressed by Gen Pervez Musharraf , who was then Pakistan ’ s Army Chief and head of the civilian Government by putting curbs on infiltration ,
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