Time for New Delhi to be a little less disdainful of whatever Prime Minister Imran Khan may try to put on offer to give a fresh start to the never-ending broken dialogue with Pakistan – now turned into open hostility – between the two neighboring countries. A lifelong witness have I been to the hemming and hawing and downright abusiveness of the two countries (leave the people aside for the moment), civility officially long gone and cudgels of hate out in the open –people reduced to spectatorhood when it might have helped to sell to them peace between the nations as better choice. A great tragedy this, given that the two normally have so much to share and to enrich each other’s lives.Yet the story of the past these many years points only toward the dark abyss. Of two bothers separated at birth refusing to identify similarities, and instead led by evil men of the RSS and the tribe called Jihadists. And sure enough as the years rolled by and petty men took over on both sides the gulf separating the two appears to have attained unbridgeable contours. Can you imagine the two hostile countries taking an initiative last week in Lahore – the Kartarpur corridor connecting Indian Punjab with Kartarpur, near Lahore, the Pakistani town being the place Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, sang songs along with his Muslim and Hindu admirers reminding that there is just one God to reach out to, even if the paths to him my differ.The Kartarpur event should normally haven been one marked by bilateral goodwill and happiness, not just hateful politicians continuing to unload tons of hate, probably not at Kartarpur itself but elsewhere in saffronised India; watching the Kartarpur event from a few hundred miles away did not really seem to generate the peaceful vibes it could, not but all we got more of the spirited hate diatribes mouthed by channels available to me this side of the border. I saw the Chief Minister hauled over the coals though not as severely as that Mr Siddhu, the Pujab Minister. Two junior Ministers of the Modi government were of course present at Kartarpur but both appeared more inclined to play to the Sikh sentiment rather than the symbolism of it in the context of the strained relations between India and Pakistan. Unlike the Indians, the Pakistan Prime Minister seemed intent on underscoring the symbolism of his country’s gesture, offering a corridor from the Indian border to Kartarpur near Lahore and making it a point to be present personally to see the first shovel of earth turned. It was here at Kartarpur that that the Prime Minister of Pakistan went out of his way to proffer his hand of friendship, without caring for the Indian reaction and no trace at all of his disappointment, if any, with the Indian Government deputing two junior Minister to represent the country at such a momentous function. May be the Modi government felt two Sikh junior Ministers were good enough to represent him at the function. And in the midst of the intensive domestic election campaign and his unabashed thirst for foreign trips one could tell that Modiji wasn’t thinking of Mr. Imran Khan. His mind must have been preoccupied that particular moment about his sixth change of attire for his South American yatra to Argentina in between his hectic poll schedule. Add to this his current disdain for Pakistan, Modi could hardly have thought of a cogent reply to Imran Khan and his overture. Then there was the very attractive prospect for Mr. Modi to have yet another meeting with his “American friend” Donald Trump. Mr Modi wouldn’t like to miss an opportunity to say a personal thank you to the whimsical Donald Trump for the support the US has continued to give to the Modi Government’s campaign against the “terrorist State” Pakistan. This should be no surprise that Modi puts much store by his “friendship” with the US President. Then there is added attraction for Modi to meet the Saudi Crown Prince Salman, a bit of megalomaniac, like, both Trump and Modi. Three of a type, has someone said for the record. But then the Saudi Crown Prince is currently facing a bad patch after his alleged involvement in the killing of the well-known Saudi Journalist, Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul while seeking a renewal of his Saudi visa from the latter’s Consulate there. Khashhogi was once close to the Saudi Royal house including the Crown Prince. Lately had beed shunned by royals and had moved to US and was writing among others for the Washington Post. The Prince’s “highhandedness” it is suggested is beginning to erode his authority in the Palace – as indeed is his hand in civil war in Yemen and ever widening rift between the Saudis and the Iranians. Mr Trump is a link man of sorts between the Saudi Prince and Israel, and other similar linkages between the three.
And as I close I must confess my disappointment over New Delhi’s decision to boycott the next meeting of SAARC due to be held in Pakistan. Yet another NO to the summit by India sounds so silly given the country’s character as one of its prime movers. Modi himself had acknowledged the importance of the grouping by inviting leaders of these nations – all India’s neighbors – to his swearing-in as the PM four years ago. Funny that New Delhi should be reaching out to lands many oceans across but be seen acting peevishly with its immediate neighbors.
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