NEW DELHI: A mention of Pakistan has always been a constant feature in nearly every speech delivered by prime ministers of India from the ramparts of the Red Fort. But, when Narendra Modi omitted the subject in his maiden Independence Day speech, eyebrows were certain to be raised as it gave a clue to a possible strategy to cut down Pakistan to size by championing SAARC and other neighbours.
In 2004, Manmohan Singh in his first speech had mentioned Pakistan in an optimistic tone, talking of taking forward the composite dialogue process. By 2013, the tone and tenor had soured with the dialogue process broken after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Singh had been under immense pressure following the brutal beheading of an Indian soldier at border, which dictated his demeanour in his last months in office.
Therefore, it was a surprise that Modi did not mention the western neighbour even once in his speech. This omission was especially stark as just a couple of days ago, he had accused Pakistan of “proxy war”, triggering off an exchange of words across the border between the two foreign ministries. Further, it came just 10 days before the two foreign secretaries will be meeting in Islamabad on August 25.
At the same time, Nepal got a big mention in his speech, as well as SAARC, which has now become Modi’s pet foreign policy issue.
Observers feel there is now a pattern to the government’s engagement with Pakistan in the last three months—keeping the lines of communication open, but at the same time ensuring that with New Delhi putting spotlight on South Asia as a whole, it does not grab the central role.
“Silence says a lot,” said Ajay Darshan Behera, coordinator of Pakistan studies at Jamia Milia Islamia. “It is a good thing and bad thing. Good thing in that there was no heightened rhetoric, but bad thing in that, perhaps, Modi doesn’t have much to say,” he said.
Behera admitted there “could be a strategy” in the continuous projection of SAARC by the Indian foreign policy establishment. “Pakistan may play along for some time, but I don’t think it will be happy with such a downgrade in its ties to bring it in par with India’s other neighbours,” he said.
In fact, after the visit of all the South Asian leaders to the new government’s swearing-in ceremony, there had been rumblings in some sections of Pakistani media that India did not give any special attention to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, despite him taking on vested interests by agreeing to travel to New Delhi.
There had also been complaints that even Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh’s readout of the bilateral meeting was “less warm” than that of Modi’s discussions with other foreign guests.
Uma Singh, professor in the JNU’s School of International Studies, said the omission of Pakistan from the speech “was certainly deliberate”. “It is an ambivalent and opportunistic signal,” she said.