Spanners in the works

India and Pakistan rarely manage to read from the same page, and the story has changed very little since Partition

India and Pakistan rarely manage to read from the same page, and the story has changed very little in the years since Partition. There are highs and lows and occasional spikes but overall the relationship between the two countries that ought to be profiting hugely from their proximity, remains sour and abrasive. Often contradictory messages pass between the two, as evidenced by the statement by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the effect that India was willing to discuss “all unresolved issues” but only under a “violence free environment” — which is probably diplomatic code for quiet to descend and stay descended — along the Line of Control (LoC). Prime Minister Modi told the Hindustan Times that India was open to bilateral dialogue and that the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration were the key documents for “going forward” — a view unlikely to be universally agreed in both countries.



At the same time that the Hindustan Times was publishing words of conciliation, here in Pakistan the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, was freed by the Lahore High Court after four months of legal argument as to the validity of his detention. He was promptly spirited away having put up a Rs2 million surety and is probably in his home district of Okara.

There can be few actions more calculated to raise Indian hackles than the release of the man they see as behind the most devastating terrorist attack on Indian soil. Indian Prime Minister Modi was quick to express his shock at this development, and it has to be said that successive Pakistan governments have not exactly moved expeditiously in the prosecution of those said to be involved, which further stokes the fires on the Indian side. For its part, India was not as forthcoming as it might have been in terms of sharing information with Pakistan that would have aided the prosecution of Lakhvi; and both sides once again find themselves stalemated, unable to move forward or back, stuck in a cycle of negativity. Sadly, there is no sign of change in the foreseeable future.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th,  2015.

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