SUMMARY of the Article “Frozen Ties,” by Maleeha Lodhi, Dawn, July 29th, 2024
The article explores the stagnant state of diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan, highlighting that the prospects for engagement remain bleak. Despite Pakistan hosting a multilateral summit in October as part of its role as the rotational chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), there is little hope for a thaw in relations. There is no indication that either side is willing to use this summit as an opportunity for bilateral re-engagement, and it is unlikely that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend. The article also discusses the role of sports as a barometer of diplomatic relations, noting that the strained ties have affected cricket diplomacy. The Indian cricket team is expected to avoid traveling to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025, citing strained relations. Past gestures of goodwill, such as congratulatory messages from Pakistani leaders, have been met with terse responses from India, emphasizing security concerns. Recent accusations by Modi against Pakistan and harsh rhetoric from Indian officials further indicate the deep-seated animosity. The article highlights the contentious issue of Kashmir, where a verbal clash between the two countries followed Pakistan’s reaffirmation of the need to resolve the dispute according to the UN Charter. India’s steadfast refusal to discuss Kashmir presents a significant obstacle to any potential dialogue. Moreover, the article points out the strategic freeze in relations, with India showing no interest in resuming talks or reviving economic ties, which have been suspended since India’s annexation of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. The writer concludes that the likelihood of any improvement in relations remains remote, given the current political and diplomatic environment.
V.v.v Imp DIPLOMATIC Relations BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN
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Easy/Short SUMMARY:
The article discusses how relations between India and Pakistan are very poor, with little chance of improvement soon. Despite Pakistan hosting a big meeting in October, there is no sign that either country wants to use this event to talk and make peace. Even sports, like cricket, which sometimes help improve relations, aren’t helping this time. India doesn’t want its cricket team to play in Pakistan because of bad relations. When Pakistani leaders tried to congratulate Indian leaders, the replies were cold and focused on security. Both countries are arguing over the Kashmir issue, with India refusing to talk about it. This makes it hard for any dialogue to happen. Overall, the chances of India and Pakistan improving their relations are very slim right now.
SOLUTIONS of The Problem:
Diplomatic Initiatives
Initiate back-channel diplomacy to create a conducive environment for formal talks. This can help in building trust and addressing sensitive issues without public pressure.
Sports Diplomacy
Encourage sports events that involve both countries, such as cricket matches at neutral venues, to foster goodwill and reduce tensions.
Cultural Exchanges
Promote cultural exchange programs, including art exhibitions, film festivals, and academic collaborations, to build people-to-people connections and soften political animosity.
Third-Party Mediation
Seek mediation from neutral countries or international organizations to facilitate dialogue and help resolve contentious issues like Kashmir.
Economic Cooperation
Identify and promote areas of mutual economic interest that can benefit both countries, such as trade in specific sectors, to create interdependencies that encourage peaceful relations.
Humanitarian Projects
Collaborate on humanitarian projects, such as health and education initiatives, to demonstrate goodwill and mutual concern for citizens’ well-being.
Confidence-Building Measures
Implement confidence-building measures (CBMs) like regular military hotlines, joint border patrols, and agreements on non-aggression to reduce the risk of conflict.
Educational Programs
Develop joint educational programs and scholarships that allow students from both countries to study together, fostering mutual understanding and respect from a young age.
Media Collaboration
Encourage media houses from both countries to collaborate on joint projects that highlight common cultural heritage and shared interests, reducing the focus on divisive issues.
Public Statements
Leaders from both countries should make public statements that emphasize peace, cooperation, and the importance of dialogue, setting a positive tone for bilateral relations.
IMPORTANT Facts and Figures Given in the Article:
- Multilateral Summit: Pakistan will host the SCO heads of government summit in October 2024.
- Cricket Diplomacy: Indian media reports indicate that the Indian cricket team is unlikely to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025.
- Congratulatory Messages: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s congratulatory message to Modi on his re-election received a terse response focused on security.
- Kashmir Dispute: A verbal clash ensued after the Pakistan-China joint statement on June 8, 2024, referred to the need to resolve the Kashmir dispute according to the UN Charter.
- Trade Suspension: India imposed a 200 percent tariff on Pakistani imports following the Pulwama incident, and Pakistan formally suspended trade after India’s annexation of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
MCQs from the Article:
1. What event will Pakistan host in October 2024?
A. ICC Champions Trophy
B. SCO heads of government summit
C. Asia Cup
D. UN General Assembly
2. Why is the Indian cricket team unlikely to travel to Pakistan in 2025?
A. Financial constraints
B. Strained diplomatic relations
C. Lack of interest
D. Scheduling conflicts
3. What was the response to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s congratulatory message to Modi?
A. Warm and welcoming
B. Terse and security-focused
C. Neutral and non-committal
D. Dismissive and critical
4. What issue caused a verbal clash between Pakistan and India in June 2024?
A. Trade tariffs
B. Kashmir dispute
C. Sports diplomacy
D. Cultural exchanges
5. When did India impose a 200 percent tariff on Pakistani imports?
A. October 2024
B. February 2019
C. August 2019
D. June 2024
VOCABULARY:
- Prospects (مواقع): The possibility or likelihood of some future event occurring.
- Multilateral (کثیر الجہتی): Involving multiple countries or parties.
- Stalemate (تعطل): A situation in which no progress can be made.
- Barometer (پیمانہ): Something that reflects changes in circumstances or opinions.
- Thaw (پگھلنا): To become more friendly and less hostile.
- Diplomacy (سفارتکاری): The profession, activity, or skill of managing international relations.
- Terse (مختصر): Sparing in the use of words; abrupt.
- Conciliatory (مصالحتی): Intended or likely to placate or pacify.
- Accusations (الزامات): A charge or claim that someone has done something illegal or wrong.
- Anniversary (سالگرہ): The date on which an event took place in a previous year.
- Proxy (وکیل): A person authorized to act on behalf of another.
- Dispute (تنازعہ): A disagreement or argument.
- Unwarranted (بلا جواز): Not justified or authorized.
- Inalienable (ناقابل تنسیخ): Unable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor.
- Obdurate (سنگ دل): Stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course of action.
- Animus (عداوت): Hostility or ill feeling.
- Provocative (اشتعال انگیز): Causing annoyance, anger, or another strong reaction.
- Confrontation (مقابلہ): A hostile or argumentative meeting or situation between opposing parties.
- Infiltrators (درانداز): People who secretly enter a place to get information or cause damage.
- Militant (جنگجو): Aggressive or combative in support of a cause.
dawn.com
Frozen ties
Maleeha Lodhi
PROSPECTS for diplomatic engagement between India and Pakistan remain bleak. Any expectation that a multilateral summit that Islamabad will host in October will help to melt the ice between Pakistan and India seems premature in view of the persisting diplomatic stalemate, which neither side has sought to overcome. As rotational chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Pakistan will convene the heads of government summit in around three m
onths’ time. As part of the seven-member regional grouping, India has of course been invited. While it is too early to say whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate, indications so far are that it is highly unlikely. There has been no development to suggest that either side sees this as an opportunity for bilateral re-engagement. Quite the opposite.
Sports is always a useful barometer to assess if a diplomatic thaw is on the anvil as it both reflects a softening in position and paves the way for an easing of tensions. But that front too offers little grounds for optimism. Although cricket diplomacy has played a part in the past to bring the two countries closer, this is no longer the case. Pakistan is to host the ICC Champions Trophy between February and March 2025. The Indian media is already reporting, citing official sources, that due to “strained relations” between the two neighbours, the Indian cricket team will not travel to Pakistan. Instead, the Indian cricket board plans to ask ICC for India’s matches to be played in Dubai or Sri Lanka. For some years now, the Modi government has barred its cricket team from playing in Pakistan. Even though Pakistan’s team played in India in an international tournament in late 2023, the Indian team did not come to Pakistan for the Asia Cup, hosted by Pakistan last September.
More importantly, exchanges between the two countries after the Indian elections have been anything but encouraging. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s congratulatory message to Modi on his re-election elicited a terse response. The reply was wrapped in ‘security’ language expressing Modi’s commitment to “the security and safety” of Indian citizens. Although PML-N president Nawaz Sharif’s message of felicitation to Modi was cast in conciliatory terms, it elicited a similar, terse response with emphasis on security. Moreover, Pakistan was excluded from the list of regional leaders invited to Modi’s oath-taking ceremony. In 2014, Nawaz Sharif had attended Modi’ first inauguration.
But it was Modi’s accusations against Pakistan last week that provided the clearest indicator of his stance. In a speech on the anniversary of the Kargil conflict, he said: “Pakistan has not learned anything from its history. It is trying to keep itself relevant with the help of terrorism and proxy war.” He also called Pakistan “masters of terror”. Earlier, Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar used the same old tired rhetoric in his first statement on assuming charge. Spelling out what future engagement with Islamabad would involve, he said: “We would want to find a solution to the issue of years-old cross-border terrorism.”
Prospects are bleak for resumption of any formal dialogue between Pakistan and India.
A verbal clash between the foreign ministries of the two countries on occupied Kashmir followed in the wake of PM Sharif’s China visit in June. The Pakistan-China joint statement of June 8 had referred to the need to resolve all outstanding disputes in South Asia with the Chinese side reiterating its principled stand that “the Jammu and Kashmir dispute … should be peacefully resolved in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements”.
This prompted the Indian external affairs ministry spokesman to criticise the reference claiming it was “unwarranted” and that “the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India”. Islamabad dismissed these remarks and reiterated that Kashmir was an internationally recognised disputed territory and Indian claims were “unfounded”.
It seems the Modi government’s preference is to maintain a strategic freeze on relations with Pakistan. It has shown no interest in resuming dialogue with Islamabad, apparently concluding that this hurts Pakistan, not India. Pakistan-bashing by BJP leaders during the election campaign reflected their animus towards Pakistan. Modi’s own statements were extremely provocative. At one point, he compared his muscular response to cross-border terrorism with the infirm approach of his predecessors, saying he will continue to “hit terrorists in their homes”.His reference was to the Indian airstrikes he ordered on Balakot in February 2019 after a terrorist attack in Pulwama in occupied Kashmir. This had led to a dangerous confrontation between the nuclear neighbours.
In recent weeks, there has been a virtual chorus in the Indian media about “foreign infiltrators” in J&K in the wake of a series of attacks on Indian security forces in Jammu. Several newspapers have referred to so-called “shadow militant outfits” linked to Pakistani militant groups that are carrying out a “proxy war”, with Jammu as the new theatre of operations. The Hindu called it the “highest recorded militant footprint” in Jammu since 2005. This seems an orchestrated effort to externalise the problem in order to shield the government from blame for the deteriorating security situation. It is also designed to keep Pakistan under pressure. All this makes any chances of resumption of talks between India and Pakistan rather remote.
India’s obdurate refusal to discuss the Kashmir dispute poses a major challenge for Pakistan. Even if talks were to resume down the road it would be impossible for Islamabad to have a formal dialogue minus Kashmir. Indeed, a ‘peace’ process which doesn’t include Kashmir will not go anywhere. This is not a hard-line view but the dictate of law, principle and reality. As for reviving trade between the two countries this too presents challenges. While a constituency for expanding bilateral trade exists on both sides, Delhi has thus far, shown no interest in reviving economic ties. India imposed 200 per cent tariff on Pakistani imports following the Pulwama incident. Trade was formally suspended by Islamabad after India’s illegal annexation of Jammu and Kashmir on Aug 5, 2019. Since then, relations have been in deep freeze. In view of latest developments, there seems to be little prospect of the ice melting between the two countries.
The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK and UN.
Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2024