NEW DELHI: Elections in Pakistan are slated to be held on February 8 but not much will change between India and Pakistan with the change of guard immediately, says former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria.
"I would view the next government in Pakistan, after elections are held, with cautious optimism. India too will go to the polls and have a new government this year. New governments tend to take new initiatives. India’s biggest concern with Pakistan is that of terrorism," Ambassador Bisaria told The New Indian Express.
Nawaz Sharif as of now seems to be the frontrunner to become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. Even though personalities and chemistry between leaders matter, one of the main reasons for the diplomatic standoff between India and Pakistan is the primacy of the Pakistani army.
"The structural reason for the diplomatic low between India and Pakistan is the Pakistan’s army’s primacy and hostility towards India and the use of terrorism as a weapon against India. We cannot have normalcy unless their primacy is reduced," said Ambassador Bisaria, who has just written a book on his experience as a diplomat in Pakistan, titled 'Anger Management: The troubled diplomatic relationship between India and Pakistan'.
The book is actually a long answer to a short question – what do Indian diplomats do in Pakistan. It traces the history of India-Pakistan relations through the eyes of the primary protagonist who is the Indian diplomat in Pakistan, Ambassador Bisaria says, adding that the book tells the entire story of the relationship with that perspective.
In the two years that Ambassador Bisaria was in Pakistan, a lot happened -- Pulwama, Balakot and abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir were some of the challenges. However, the same year, the Kartarpur corridor was opened for India. Kartarpur is where Guru Nanak breathed his last and is a holy pilgrimage.
Pakistan is a paradox for diplomats. While there is a lot of negativity on the state-to-state front (primarily due to terrorism), on the people-to-people level, there is a connect as there is a lot of cultural similarity.
"Even though the events that happened in 2019 were challenging and there were threats to Indian diplomats, we were safe as there was protection specially in Islamabad," he added.
Ambassador Bisaria also said he hoped people across the border in Pakistan read the book.
"It would be good for them to see the overall trajectory of the relationship and seek solutions for a long term understanding for improving the relationship between the two nations," he added.
Book excerpt:
In the Spring of 2019, the world’s biggest dance of democracy was underway in India. As the dust settled on February events we received requests in April for visas for Pakistani journalists. I was all for sending Pakistani media in for the journalists to see the scale and efficiency of India’s electoral process. The concern in India was that the coverage was unlikely to be balanced and objective. It was too soon after the events of February to expect unbiased reports in Pakistan’s press. The visas finally did not come through…