With the Monsoon Session of Parliament almost upon us it is natural to see Opposition parties honing their strategies on how best to counter the BJP. While reports claim the Left is honing their strategy on how to blame the government for the recent spate of WhatsApp killings across the country, the Congress wants to corner the government on its bonhomie with Pakistan. The party’s Twitter handle recently tweeted a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, holding hands with former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, asking him what he had to say about the arrest of his ‘dear friend.’ 

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As expected, this low level exchange was condemned not just by the BJP but by other political leaders who do not support the saffron party’s ideology. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah went on Twitter and wrote, ‘There are a lot of things I will be critical of PM Modi for but attempting to repair India’s relations with Pakistan is certainly not one of them. I’m not even getting in to the internal politics of Pakistan that makes this tweet even more disappointing.’ Abdullah’s sentiment sums up what many feel. Despite the rhetoric, peace with Pakistan has to be the end goal for India and that is something all Prime Ministers have strived for - BJP or Congress. 

Also, if you do want to attack the PM on Pakistan why pull out a picture of 2015 when the scenario was very different. The attack by Pakistan-based terrorists on the Army base camp in Uri, J&K, had not happened yet and many were expecting relations with Pakistan to improve. At that time, the PM had been lauded for his ‘statesman-like gesture’ in inviting Sharif to his swearing in and his surprise visit to Lahore in end 2015. Everyone apart from the Congress seemed to be happy with his actions.  

The Congress had attacked the PM for the Lahore visit and their attack seemed illogical. Congress leader Manish Tewari was then quoted as saying, ‘PM’s misadventure in Lahore is the worst manifestation of spectacalisation of diplomacy.’  The party had also accused the PM of planning the visit beforehand which was again illogical. Diplomacy, especially with Pakistan, is conducted after a lot of reflection and it is naturally not shared with the public. In fact, it would have been foolish for the PM to not pre-plan the visit. Despite its Pakistan misadventure, the Congress seems to have learnt nothing. 

What they don’t realise is by attacking the PM they are also indirectly attacking Nawaz Sharif, which is a very bad move at the moment. By showing pictures of his wife suffering from terminal cancer, by returning to Pakistan when he knew he would be arrested, Sharif and his family have become ‘sympathy figures’. The other point is that Sharif is the only one from Pakistan reaching out to India. His admission that Pakistan-based terrorists carried out the Mumbai attack is something that has endeared him to India. By attacking the PM on his bonhomie with Sharif, the Congress has shot itself in the foot once again.