Pak-India Relations: Modi’ Government’s Approach and Pakistan’s Response

India is not driven by hatred towards Pakistan as the primary motive of its foreign policy however its strategy to keep ignoring the chronic issues like Kashmir and engaging proactively with the rest of the world to malign and isolate Pakistan is not specific to Modi government; it was inherited by it and has only been amplified by its Hindutva mindset.

These were the views of different speakers and discussants at a seminar “Pak-India Relations: Modi’ Government’s Approach and Pakistan’s Response” held at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, on 15 September 2015. They included Air Commodore (retd) Khalid Iqbal, Syed Mohammad Ali, foreign policy analyst, DG-IPS Khalid Rahman, Brigadier (retd) Said Nazir, Ambassador (retd) Ayaz Wazir, Ambassador (retd) Asif Ezdi, Ghulam Muhammad Safi, representative of top Kashmir leader Syed Ali Gilani in Islamabad and Masud Daher, former federal secretary, government of Pakistan.
The participants of the seminar were unanimous that the approach of the present Indian government like its predecessors was to use war as an instrument of foreign policy while Pakistan’s response towards its bigger neighbor’s hegemonic designs has traditionally remained as defensive ensuring minimum deterrence with its limited means.

Many discussants were of the view that Pakistan should maintain an aggressive stance on the international forums vis-à-vis Kashmir and raise awareness on issues threatening long-term peace in the region due to Indian designs.

It was also stressed that Pakistan’s policymakers should also learn from India how it has managed to have good relations simultaneously with KSA, Iran, UAE and Israel; with US and China; and, in the Cold War era, with USSR and US, reaping benefits from each of them for its own interests; while Pakistan had to inevitably take sides with one international player or the other.

All out national efforts for a logical conclusion of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, betterment of relations with Afghan government, avoiding all hindrances in the way of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were also urged and emphasized in the seminar.