NEW DELHI: A change of government in Islamabad this week has raised hopes of a thaw in long-chilly relations between South Asian neighbors India and Pakistan, with analysts in New Delhi saying the political change could open up the “prospects for dialogue.”
India-Pakistan relations have been marred by conflict since the two countries became independent nations following the partition of British India in 1947. Their main bone of contention is Kashmir, a Himalayan region that both claim in full but rule in part, and over which they have fought three wars in the past seven decades.
Though ties between New Delhi and Islamabad remained frozen under the government of Imran Khan, the now ousted prime minister of Pakistan, the two nations were engaged in dialogue during the last regime of PM Nawaz Sharif, the elder brother of the new Pakistani PM, Shehbaz Sharif.
Nawaz attended Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s oath-taking in 2015 and in December of that year, Modi made a surprise stopover in Pakistan to meet his counterpart — the first time an Indian premier had visited the rival nation in over a decade. In unprecedented scenes, Modi and Nawaz talked for about 90 minutes and shared an early evening meal before the Indian leader flew back home.
In his maiden speech as prime minister on Monday, Sharif spoke of improving ties with India. The PMs of the two countries also exchanged messages on Twitter and expressed their desire for “peace.”
“I think the prospects for dialogue are good,” Manoj Joshi, a distinguished fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Arab News.
Pravin Sawhney, editor of defense magazine Force, said he saw “very bright prospects of dialogue” ahead, especially given that Sharif, who is known to have amicable ties with the Pakistani military, is expected to have a solid working relationship with Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The Pakistan military is widely believed to be in charge of national security and foreign policy in Pakistan.
In March 2021, Bajwa called on both the nations to bury the past after their militaries released a rare joint statement announcing a cease-fire along the Line of Control, a highly militarized de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, and where cross-border fire has claimed hundreds of lives.
“Bajwa started the cease-fire,” Sawhney added. “And he repeatedly said that he would have talks with India.”
Jatin Desai, a peace activist and former secretary-general of the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy, was less optimistic about an immediate improvement in Islamabad-New Delhi ties but said relations could be improved if both nations focused on restoring trade relations, which have been cut off since 2019, when India stripped Kashmir of its special autonomy and Pakistan retaliates by cutting diplomatic and economic ties.
“Nawaz Sharif, when he was PM, gave importance to trade between two nations,” Desai said.
“Let us start with trade and other issues identified as confidence-building measures,” he said. “Peace and friendly relations between neighboring nations are always important. In the case of India and Pakistan, it can reach a new height in trade, culture, people-to-people contact. Most important is to develop confidence.”
Analysts in Kashmir called for “transparency” in case talks between India and Pakistan resumed.
“Important requirements are those of honesty and transparency in the event they do resume a dialogue,” historian and international affairs expert Prof. Siddiq Wahid, said.
“Honesty here would require addressing all of Jammu and Kashmir, including Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh. And transparency would involve taking all the peoples of the territories of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into confidence before and during their dialogue,” he added.
“These elements have been missing in all dialogues so far.”
Change of government in Pakistan raises hopes of diplomatic thaw with India
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Change of government in Pakistan raises hopes of diplomatic thaw with India
- Islamabad froze ties with Delhi, suspended trade when India revoked autonomy of Kashmir in 2019
- Shahbaz Sharif sworn-in as new PM on Monday after predecessor Imran Khan ousted in no-trust vote
Thousands of Afghans displaced by Kabul-Islamabad conflict
- The neighbors have clashed since Thursday when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in retaliation for Pakistani air strikes
- Islamabad has hit back along the border and with fresh air strikes, bombing multiple sites including the former US air base at Bagram
KABUL: More than 8,000 Afghans have been forced from their homes by fighting with Pakistani forces along the border in recent days, the Taliban government said Tuesday.
The neighbors have clashed along the frontier since Thursday, when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in retaliation for Pakistani air strikes.
Islamabad has hit back along the border and with fresh air strikes, bombing multiple sites including the former US air base at Bagram, the capital Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar.
“Due to these brutal bombings and attacks, 8,400 of our families have been displaced, forced to leave their villages and homes,” Afghan deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said at a news conference.
An AFP journalist near the frontier has spoken to residents who have fled the clashes.
Afghanistan’s defense ministry reported “extensive and heavy offensive and revenge attacks” across seven provinces over the past day.
The government acknowledged earlier air strikes on Bagram for the first time.
“Yes, the enemy targeted Bagram as well, but there were no casualties or damage,” defense ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khowarazmi said.
Two residents told AFP on Sunday that they heard air strikes in Bagram, north of the capital.
Pakistani security sources said strikes at Bagram were based on “credible intelligence” to disrupt the “supply of critical equipment and stores” for Afghan soldiers and militants fighting Pakistan forces along the frontier.
They said Pakistan reserves the right to respond to the Taliban government’s “aggression along its border by striking legitimate targets at the time and place of its own choice.”
Pakistani fighter jets also flew nighttime sorties over Kabul, another security source told AFP.
UN ‘ALARMED’
Islamabad’s confirmation that its aircraft flew over the Afghan capital came hours after AFP journalists in the city heard multiple explosions.
The blasts were heard alongside anti-aircraft weapons and gunfire from across the city.
An AFP journalist in Jalalabad city, between Kabul and the frontier, reported hearing explosions and various weapons being fired.
At the nearest border crossing, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Jalalabad, residents in Torkham told AFP the days-long fighting was ongoing.
The latest casualties include three children killed in a “crime committed by the Pakistani military regime” in Kunar province, Fitrat said Monday.
At least 39 civilians have been killed since Thursday, the Afghan government said, a toll which Pakistan has not commented on.
The UN children’s charity said it was “alarmed” by reports of child casualties in the conflict, and called on all sides to “exercise maximum restraint, protect civilian lives.”
Pakistan said its February air strikes that sparked the escalation were targeting militants.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government rejects.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday it was “never too late to talk,” but warned: “We will finish this menace.”
The Afghan defense ministry spokesman said more than 25 soldiers have been killed, while estimating Pakistani fatalities among troops at around 150.
Pakistan says more than 430 Afghan soldiers have been killed, with more than 630 wounded.
Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.
The violence of recent days is the worst since October fighting killed more than 70 people on both sides, with land borders between the neighbors largely shut since.
