Modi's Flip-Flop Diplomacy: "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa" to Pakistan
By Riaz Haq
CA
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sudden U-turn on foreign minister level talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly came under fire from within India. The top Indian critics of Mr Modi's flip-fop include former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Mr Sharat Sabharwal, ex-foreign secretary Nirupama Menon Rao and seasoned journalists Suhasini Haider and Shekhar Gupta.
Pakistan's new prime minister Mr Imran Khan extended his hand of friendship to India that led to a mutual agreement for the two countries to meet on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting. However, the foreign minister level meeting was canceled by India a couple of days later with a nasty message from Indian foreign ministry to Prime Minister Imran Khan alleging that he had shown his "true face" and exposed his "evil agenda". Prime Minister Imran Khan responded with an equally nasty tweet talking of "small men occupying big offices" that do not have the vision to see the larger picture" without naming Prime Minister Modi.
Nirupama Rao asked in a tweet: "Why is diplomacy seen as a cave-in when it comes to India-Pakistan relations?" And then went to say that "a meeting in New York is not an instrument of surrender". Ex-High Commissioner Sabharwal said in a similar tweet: "IFS (Indian Foreign Service) does not draft such election-oriented statements or take such hasty flip flop decisions. Seems handiwork of 'muscular' thinking. More 'brawn' than 'brain'!"
The ex-Indian diplomats' chorus of criticism was strengthened by journalist Shekhar Gupta who tweeted: "Is this MEA statement drafted by the same dudes who write scripts for commando-comic channels? And seriously: can’t believe IFS drafted it. They know Imran has been PM for exactly a month, not ‘first few months.’" Suhasini Haider chimed in with a tweet of her own: "Clumsier still is the MEA statement. Have seldom seen such a crudely worded and badly articulated explanation from our diplomats."
The clumsy excuses like the "latest killing" along LoC in Kashmir and Burhan Wani postage stamps for cancellation have also been questioned by "The Wire Analysis" published in thewire.in. The "latest killing" occurred before the Indian government agreed to the meeting and the planned Burhan Wani stamp release was also known well in advance.
So why did it go from the hopeful meeting to saber rattling between the two South Asian neighbors? Did the Modi government cave in to pressure from within his Hindu nationalist base? Have India's far right-wing leaders whipped up so much anti-Pakistan hysteria that they have made it extremely difficult to talk peace and friendship with the western neighbor? Has the talk of "chhappan inch ki chhati" (56-inch chest) and "boli nahi goli" (bullets, not talks) radicalized Mr Modi's base and left little room to maneuver for his government on its Pakistan policy?
Here's a discussion on the subject:
https://youtu.be/CjG2qCp17VQ
(Riaz Haq is a Silicon Valley based Pakistani-American analyst and writer. He blogs at www.riazhaq.com)
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