Back to the table?

There is no evidence that the government of Pakistan or any of its official was in any way involved in the assault

With Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif contacting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi prior to his recent surgery, and Mr Modi later wishing him a speedy recovery, there are at least indications that channels carrying messages of peace between the two states are not entirely defunct. If the two men at the apex can exchange pleasantries, then those lower down the diplomatic pecking order may be able to do something similar. This is not an outcome that was wished for by those who planned and executed the raid on the Indian Pathankot airbase in January; and they came very close to achieving their objective of killing off the peace process completely. In the aftermath of the raid, questions were asked as to whether or not the government of Pakistan was somehow complicit in the attack — and now there is an answer to that from the Indian side.

The answer came from the Director General of the Indian National Investigation Agency, Sharad Kumar, and it is clear enough — there was no evidence that the government of Pakistan or any official of the government of Pakistan was in any way involved in the assault. On the one hand, this is welcome but not entirely unexpected news; but on the other, there are a number of questions that our government needs to be asking itself and providing some answers to a waiting populace.

While there is no doubt that the Pakistan government was in no way complicit in the attack, the same cannot be said about the involvement of Pakistani non-state actors, like the banned organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad. The first question to ask and answer is just how is it that long-banned organisations are able to operate with seeming impunity, and both fundraise and mount operations without law-enforcement agencies being able to detect or prevent them? It is neither sufficient nor satisfactory to ride on the positive coattails of the Indian findings regarding the Pakistan government involvement without the above question being addressed. By all means let us both diligently pursue the much-needed peace accords, but let us not fail in our own housekeeping because it only feeds those bent on conflict not peace.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2016.

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