ArpitGarg's Weblog

Only Modi could have allowed Pakistan JIT to visit India. No other leader/party has political wherewithal to survive such a suicidal decision. BJP would have taken Congress’s anti-nationalism to town by now, had UPA would have done the same post 26/11. But that’s every party would have done owing to demands of ‘electoral democracy’.

I would count this as ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking by Modi, something which is required to deal with a contentious issue. Just imagine how a weak step of 1947 on Kashmir has plagued the nation this long. If Pakistan were non-nuclear, force was the best option, but Nuclear weapons make things tricky. We have tried every other approach with Pakistan over last 70 years to no avail. Now is a time for a new approach and that is what Modi is doing.

There are 99% chances that this will fail, but all other approaches have failed 100%. Pakistan has an ally in China at the UNSC who is ready to go the extra mile. India lacks such an ally. US change its policy with successive elections, just like India. Thus is never a serious ally. To put into perspective, what China is to Pakistan is what US has been to Israel. Blind support!

So we lack an ally at the big table. We have a nuclear armed enemy who is not ashamed of sending terrorists; an enemy whose army can replace Govt. any fine day; an army apparatus which is loathed in anger at India for being thrashed in successive wars over the years. What can Indian Govt. do?

We have a Pak PM Sharif, who is ready to risk as much as PM Modi in going that extra mile. Last time India came close to solving the issue was during Musharraf-Vajpayee era as both were strong leaders. Congress consortium could not have done anything anyways. Now again we have Modi-Sharif who are trying to workout Mano-2-Mano. And that is the only way forward I see; via personalities. Diplomacy at any other level does not hold much credence.

This is one problem where I fall short of suggesting a solution. I can find solace in the fact that even the experts fail too. Since I know Modi has good intentions in what he is doing, I will lend my support to him completely. When all else has failed, maybe he will succeed. Even if he failed, he would have failed trying his best.