Indian elections and Pakistan

Whichever party wins Indian election, it will take reins at a time of uncertainty and potential regional instability.

India is to hold a general election in April. A myriad of parties are contesting but only two have any real possibility of taking power once the votes are counted — the ruling Congress Party and the opposition nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP. It is the leader of the BJP, Narendra Modi, who is currently making the headlines, and from the tone of some of his comments, we may be concerned about any future relationship with India were Mr Modi ever to become prime minister. His speech to a crowd in Hiranagar in Indian Kashmir was little short of inflammatory rabble-rousing of the very worst kind. He referred to his political opponents as “helping the country’s enemy” — Pakistan — and was critical of those who wanted a referendum on the Kashmir dispute. His tweet “3 AKs are very popular in Pakistan: AK-47, AK Antony & AK-49” is hardly the stuff of an equitable future foreign policy.

It is hard to determine if this is mere electoral rhetoric or an indication that India might take a lurch to the right — even if the BJP does not win the election. We note, for instance, the veiled reference to Pakistan in the Congress party election manifesto, which speaks of the real threat to the Afghan peace process as “from terrorism beyond its borders” that speaks volumes for the political perceptions of the Congress party. It must also be noted that no political party in Pakistan during the course of the previous election chose to play “the India card”; and since the PML-N came to power, it has consistently and with determination played a straight bat with India, occasional and bloody incidents at the Line of Control notwithstanding. Whichever party wins the Indian election, it will take the reins at a time of great uncertainty and potential regional instability. Elections are to be held in Afghanistan almost in parallel with those in India and now if ever, is the time for moderation, not the toxic rhetoric of Mr Modi.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2014.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.