Between two evils we must choose the lesser. The economic and social situation in Pakistan is so serious that the new government has decided to temporarily silence its grievances against India and propose that it start peace talks. The pitfalls of such a process are numerous, particularly the fate reserved for the disputed areas of Kashmir. Nonetheless, hopes of re-establishing trade ties with the neighbor and thereby relieving a struggling Pakistani society seem to have persuaded Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take a stand on the hot-button issue.
No doubt he chose to speak to a foreign outlet, Saudi broadcaster Al-Arabiya, to limit the impact of the announcement. The interview was then broadcast on Pakistani public broadcaster PTV on January 17. “Let’s sit around the table,” he declares, and have serious and sincere discussions to solve our burning problems like Kashmir. He says he is addressing “Indian leaders” and “Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. Mr Sharif, who was on a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates amid trade ties, said he had asked the Emirates, which “also have good relations with India,” to support his initiative.
A few hours after the interview was broadcast, Mr. Sharif’s office rushed to make a correction, specifying that such talks would nevertheless only be possible if India would restore Indian Kashmir’s autonomy, revoked on August 5, 2019 by Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government of Narendra Modi. This addendum is a reminder of the extreme sensitivity of the subject. If India does not reverse this measure, which Islamabad calls an “illegal annexation”, “negotiations will not be possible,” the Pakistani Prime Minister’s office said on Twitter.
“The military establishment supports his approach”
Ever since the two countries gained independence in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, each controlling part of it but claiming full ownership of it. In the past 75 years, the two nuclear powers have fought three wars (1947, 1965 and 1999) over this area. A fourth confrontation accompanied Bangladesh’s secession from Pakistan in 1971, but many see it as another seismic aftershock of the 1947 partition.
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