By Umair Jamal
India and Pakistan compete in Afghanistan, but they also have overlapping interests where it counts.
A cordial handshake and a brief exchange of views between the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit paved the way for ministerial level talks between the two countries, which took place almost a week later in Bangkok. This rare meeting between the National Security Advisors (NSA) of India and Pakistan, described as “candid, cordial and constructive,” only became public news in the form of a brief joint statement. In another significant development, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan to attend the Heart of Asia conference, which focuses on the Afghan conflict.
Eclipsing this all and in an unprecedented show of statesmanship, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, briefly visited Pakistan where he met with his Pakistani counterpart in Lahore. Other high level bilateral engagements are in line: while cricket diplomacy is being discussed to further improve the ties, Modi is said to have confirmed his attendance for next year’s SAARC summit, which is set to take place in Pakistan.
This fast-paced reconciliation has even survived a terrorist attack on an Indian Air base in Pathankot and another attack on the Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. While different media reports have confirmed that the attack at the Pathankot Air base was carried out by a Pakistani militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), another Kashmiri militant group, the United Jihad Council (UJC), has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Modi, who has previously responded to such attacks in a proactive manner, reacted calmly: he blamed “enemies of humanity” for the Pathankot attack while refraining from giving any statement on the Mazar-i-Sharif consulate incident.
One can see cooperation and calm emerging on both sides instead of confrontation. Reportedly, the Indian national security advisor has provided some credible leads to his Pakistani counterpart regarding the Pathankot Air Force base attackers. Pakistan has welcomed this and promised to take credible action.
Read the full story at The Diplomat