Ties with India

Normalising relations with India has been an endeavour of Pakistan's foreign policy, provided the irritants are addressed in all serenity. And in doing so the buck stops at the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. No other political party has been at the vanguard of advocating a dialogue and trade with India but the PML-N. Three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had staked claims more than once to graduate from the status quo and erect an order of normalcy with New Delhi. He must be appreciated for mincing no words and calling for benefiting from the dividends that geo-economics and connectivity offers in the new era, especially when China has emerged as a strategic player in the region and is eager to further the bounties of CPEC and BRI in the region.

Sharif took the mantle once again as he spoke to Barkha Dutt, an eminent journalist from India, on the eve of the SCO Summit in Islamabad. His optimism for restoring ties with India and meeting with Indian premier Narendra Modi, in the near future, is a sign of leadership. He has had to take the flak too as it is a matter of hawks versus doves, and there are not many in the power corridors on both sides of the divide who are amenable to such initiatives, rather looking them down as non-issues purely from the prism of geopolitical jaundice. Yet, Sharif has been on the move and is proud to boast his legacy of offering a hand of friendship to India as he hosted prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi in 1999 and 2015, respectively.

With Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Islamabad, it's time to push the envelope of reconciliation. Though the top Indian diplomat had hinted at a pure multilateral agenda on his visit, there is optimism at the end of the road for nurturing a thaw. Sharif's trust to "replace hate with hope and seize the opportunity to shape the destiny of the two billion people of South Asia" is the way to go, and calls for some serious thought-process by both the neighbours.