DNA Edit: Terror and dialogue don’t go hand-in-hand

In his remarks on the opening day of the Raisina Dialogue - India’s premier geo-political conference, co-organised by the Ministry for External Affairs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered a clear articulation of the broad contours that will shape his government’s policy towards Pakistan. “India alone cannot walk the path of peace. It is also Pakistan’s journey to make. Pakistan must walk away from terror if it wants to have dialogue with India,” PM Modi said, giving ample indication that he will not be the one making conciliatory gestures to the neighbouring country any longer. PM Modi is understandably chafed that despite his persistent outreach to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif through much of 2014 and 2015, the Pakistan Army has responded with a new strategy in which military camps and bases are being targeted.

At one point, the possibility of improved ties seemed distinctly possible after a series of warm exchanges between the two leaders. It began when Modi invited Sharif to his swearing in ceremony and the latter assented. The saree-shawl diplomacy, a video of an animated discussion between Sharif and Modi during an impromptu meeting at the sidelines of the Paris climate summit, and PM Modi’s surprise stopover in Islamabad to personally wish Sharif on his birthday, had raised hopes of a thaw in relations. But the recurring attacks on military camps, beginning with the Pathankot attack, and subsequently at Uri, Pampore, Langate and Nagrota, reveal that Pakistan is hell-bent on forcing a resolution of the Kashmir dispute in its favour through the use of terror.

Interestingly, PM Modi did not make a reference to the surgical strike in his speech and very well so. India must discreetly continue to use these tactical strikes to deter Pakistan from more misadventures, and without making a big show of it. The new Army chief General Bipin Rawat had also hinted that India would not shy away from surgical strikes if there was no peace at the border. The appointment of General Rawat, who planned the surgical strike, after superceding two senior generals, will not be lost on Pakistan. However, India’s resolve to stay away from a dialogue with Pakistan until it embraces the path of peace will be tested in the months to come. No less a person than Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vora has called for a resumption of the India-Pakistan dialogue in view of the situation in the Kashmir Valley. Evidently, Pakistan’s ability to wreak mischief in the Valley prompted the Governor to propose this course. The onus is on Pakistan to ensure peace at the border and create the ground for a fruitful dialogue.