SRINAGAR: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to visit J&K on April 24 — his first after Article 370 was hollowed out in August 2019 — there is quiet anticipation of bilateral peace overtures from him in the wake of the change of guard in Pakistan.
Modi had conveyed India’s desire for peace and stability in the region free of terror in his felicitation tweet to new Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Shehbaz, while thanking Modi, said: “Pakistan desires peaceful & cooperative ties with India. Peaceful settlement of outstanding disputes including Jammu & Kashmir is indispensable.”
Bilateral relations when Shehbaz’s predecessor Imran Khan was in the saddle had bottomed as he had burnt his bridges by being a hawk and making personal remarks against Modi.
In contrast, Shehbaz is a seasoned politician. Also, the Pakistan Army is inclined towards the resumption of dialogue with India.
The exchange of messages between Modi and Shehbaz has sent positive vibes in J&K. Jammu-based political commentator Rekha Choudhary said Modi may send some positive signals to Pakistan during his address at a public rally in Samba, close to the International Border in J&K.
“He may talk of peace between the two neighboring countries and Pakistan taking up the responsibility that its soil is not used for terror. But there will be no accusations,” she said.
For over a year, Indian and Pakistani troops have strictly adhered to the November 2003 border ceasefire pact. The Line of Control and International Border in J&K have been calm since February 25 last year.
Modi would be visiting the Palli panchayat in the Samba district of Jammu to mark the National Panchayati Raj Diwas celebrations. From there, he will address representatives of around 700 panchayats across the country virtually. About 30,000 representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions of J&K are expected to attend the event.
The PM’s public rally would be his third so far in Samba. Thousands of people from different parts of the Jammu region are expected to attend the rally. At an all-party meeting of J&K leaders last year, Modi had famously said he wanted to remove the Dilli ki doori (distance from Delhi) and dil ki doori (distance from the heart).
Meanwhile, a senior army officer on Wednesday said that the change of guard in Pakistan is an "internal matter" of that country, asserting that the Indian troops are in full control to ensure no infiltration takes place.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Rajouri district, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of army's Jammu-based 16 Corps, also known as White Knight Corps, Lt General Manjinder Singh also said that the army is fully prepared to tackle any type of situation along the Line of Control (LoC) as Pakistan is continuously making attempts to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Change of guard in Pakistan is its internal matter, while the situation along the LoC is a different thing," he said, while responding to a question on the recent change of guard in Pakistan where Shahbaz Shareef has replaced Imran Khan, who was removed from office through a no-confidence vote, as new prime minister.
"I would not like to comment what is happening inside Pakistan but as far as the LoC is concerned, it is our duty to guard it and the army is fully in control to ensure that no infiltration takes place," the GOC said.
Asserting that there are no inputs suggesting presence of a large number of terrorists on launching pads across the LoC, the army officer said that the dropping of weapons by drones from Pakistan is more a threat along the International Border (IB) rather than LoC and the Border Security Force (BSF) is effectively tackling the challenge.
"They (Pakistan) will attempt (to push terrorists into this side taking advantage of melting of snow) by activating the launch pads as Pakistan is continuously making attempts to disturb peace (in Jammu and Kashmir)," Lt General Singh said, replying to a query about the possibility of increased infiltration attempts from Pakistan with the melting of snow along the possible infiltration routes.
"We are keeping a watch on the situation and our counter-infiltration measures are in place to foil all their attempts," the army officer said.
Asked about intelligence inputs suggesting increasing activity of terrorists on the launch pads across the LoC, he said, "There is no alarming situation that a lot of people had gathered on the launch pads."
"The number of terrorists on launch pads is an assessment and nobody has seen them physically. There are many agencies and inputs do come, but there is variation in these inputs. We do not have any input like a lot of them had gathered on the launch pads," he said, adding "if the numbers are compared with last year's, there are minor variations."
On the threat posed by the use of drones by Pakistan to drop weapons on this side, he said such activities are mostly taking place along the IB being guarded by the BSF.
"No major action of drones was noticed along the LoC till date. As far as IB is concerned, the BSF is alive to the challenge and are tackling it effectively," he said.
Asked about his assessment of the challenge being posed by Pakistan and China, the GOC said the major challenge for his troops is definitely Pakistan as White Knight Corps does not share borders with China.
On recent incidents of terror attacks in Rajouri, he said "whenever there is peace and development, the enemy is not happy and makes an attempt to disturb it."
"Such type of sporadic incidents (are happening) to give anyone a grenade and he hurls it is the work of a coward. It did not need a lot of courage, so such type of work can be done by our enemy alone," he said.
However, he said the army and the people are together and "I am sure that our enemy will not be able to break our strength and we will emerge as successful. Some of our friends who are misled by any reason will join us as well and the enemy will fail in its design."
He lauded the people for enthusiastically participating in the 'Rajouri Day' celebrations and said "we all have joined hands and will move together for peace and development of this region."
"Rajouri is a beautiful valley having a lot of tourism potential. We are making attempts to bring the Rajouri festival on the national calendar," he said.
New projects
Apart from interacting with panchayat members, the prime minister is likely to launch multiple industrial investment and development projects in J&K during his visit.
(With PTI Inputs)