It is a sign of just how unwilling the Narendra Modi government in India is to talk to Pakistan that Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, whose government made clear its intention to pursue peace with India when assuming power in 2008, has now admitted he does not expect any improvement in ties. Asif referred to the continual Indian violations across the Line of Control, telling the National Assembly there had been more than 400 such incidents in just the first three months of the year, killing 18 civilians. The situation has become so bad that Pakistan has also had to call back High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood to discuss the persistent harassment Pakistani diplomatic staff are said to have faced in India. They allege that Indian spooks follow them and their children around at all times, that they are routinely threatened and abused and that people even ring their doorbells in the middle of the night and run away. India, in turn, has complained that its diplomats, too, have faced similar harassment. Apart from being seriously childish, such behaviour has long been practised by both sides but the current climate of hatred, mainly fostered by the Modi government, seems to have pushed it to a new level. When even diplomatic niceties cannot be observed, any chance of civil talks becomes more difficult.
The LoC violations are equally worrying. Khawaja Asif has said that he believes India is constantly firing across the de-facto border to distract international attention away from its illegal and brutal occupation of Kashmir. There is certainly some truth to that as it has always been an India strategy to deny the home-grown nature of the Kashmiri liberation movement by tarring it as terrorism directed by Pakistan. India has additionally been upset in recent days by the invitation Iran extended to Pakistan to participate in the development of the Chabahar Port, a project India had specifically funded to bypass Pakistan in its trade with Iran and Central Asia. The only comment an Indian External Affairs spokesperson had to make about this invitation was that it was Iran’s prerogative – but the Modi government is clearly not pleased. All its activities in the region, be it aid to Afghanistan, the port in Iran, the firing across the LoC and the harassment campaign against our diplomats are meant to further Modi’s goal of internationally isolating Pakistan. The response from Pakistan can be to call them out on these violations of international law and diplomatic norms, while hoping that eventually India will realise that the only ultimate solution is to come to the negotiating table.