Riaz Khokhar

Opinion | Pakistan must get its house in order before it can rebuild Indian ties

A Pakistan marked by escalating religious extremism, terrorism and political as well as economic instability can offer very little that India wants

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A Pakistani security official stands guard at a checkpoint in Peshawar, Pakistan, on March 18 after the Afghan Taliban accused Pakistani fighter jets of bombing several villages amid growing border tensions. Photo: EPA-EFE

Riaz Khokhar

Published: 8:30pm, 12 Apr 2024

Pakistan’s new government is signalling a softening in attitude towards India, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying he’s willing to enhance ties with India, defence minister Khawaja Asif expressing hope of better relations after India’s elections and foreign minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar considering the possibility of resuming trade ties.

Pakistan suspended trade with India in August 2019 after New Delhi revoked the semi-autonomous status of Indian-administered Kashmir, part of a territory both sides claim. Months before, after a deadly terrorist attack on an Indian paramilitary police convoy in Kashmir, India withdrew the most favoured nation (MFN) status for Pakistan and imposed import duties of 200 per cent.

For all of Pakistan’s overtures, terrorism must remain at the “centre of the conversation”, said Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar. India has long accused Pakistan of harbouring terrorists.

Public opinion in India has long been negative towards Pakistan. A Pew Research survey last year found that 73 per cent of Indians held an unfavourable view of Pakistan, a figure that has hardly dropped over the last decade. A large part of the reason are the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where Pakistani terrorists carried out a rampage targeting civilians.

Pakistan seems inclined to sideline the issues of terrorism and Kashmir to move forward. But for India, it is hard to see any significant benefits in resuming full relations with Pakistan.

For one thing, their ceasefire over Kashmir, reinstated in 2021, along the Line of Control, which divides Kashmir into two, has held despite the broken economic ties. In the past, even when relations were regular, border skirmishes have occurred – and could still erupt.