Making wiggle-room

Obama during his visit to India had “privately encouraged and pushed” Mr Modi to re-examine his approach to Pakistan

Wiggle-room is what international diplomats and occasionally international leaders try to create in pursuit of solutions to intractable problems. It is a tiny space in which movement may occur, often almost imperceptible to all but those closest to the action. There is very little wiggle-room between India and Pakistan, and prising them apart from their entrenched positions has proved difficult in the past and is getting no easier as the years go by. Despite approximate parity of nuclear weapons and mutually assured destruction (MAD) if they were ever used, Pakistan still sees India as an existential threat. Meanwhile, India sees Pakistan through a lens whose focus has changed little since Partition and is badly in need of recalibration. Shortly after the recent visit to India by US President Barack Obama, there was speculation that he had sought to persuade Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to re-engage in talks with Pakistan. This was officially pooh-poohed in both countries but now transpires to have been no mere speculation, but fact.



It now emerges that President Obama had “privately encouraged and pushed” Mr Modi to re-examine his approach to Pakistan, which has been rather less than conciliatory since his election. It is of particular note that President Obama pointed out that Pakistan was taking “serious steps” to eradicate terrorism, and had moved decisively to ensure that the alleged architect of the Mumbai attacks remained behind bars. There is now a suggestion that talks may resume as early as sometime in March and if so, then this is a move that we warmly welcome. It should be no surprise that it has taken so long for this information to surface, as India does not want to be seen to be taking ‘dictation’ from the US. That said, the relationship between India and the US is undergoing an overhaul itself, and that may play in the end to the advantage of Pakistan in that the US may be able to create wiggle-room where before there was none. Ideally, both sides should elect to recast their paradigms, but that may be a wiggle too far — at least for now.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd,  2015.

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