Pakistan envoy's comments embarrass Modi government

But with Islamabad to host SAARC Summit later and Modi to attend it, relations are unlikely to escalate into a war of words

At the current juncture, South Block as well as spokespersons from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are finding it difficult to defend the Pakistan policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While BJP can do little more than bristle at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s stinging criticism that the PM is dancing to the tunes of Pakistan’s infamous spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) are busy limiting the damage by hoping that Islamabad asks Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s outspoken envoy in New Delhi, to shut up.

But the peace process, re-initiated as a result of some bold diplomacy by Prime Minister Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif since end-November, has received a blow. The two leaders had tried to build it upon their personal equation, but key stakeholders like the Pakistani Army weren’t always on board.

On Thursday, Basit left New Delhi embarrassed to no end. He suggested that the peace process was off, and that there was no question of reciprocity in allowing a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team from India to travel to Pakistan as part of the probe into the Pathankot terror attack. The South Block said Islamabad was reneging on its commitment about reciprocity, as the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was allowed in India on that understanding.

Soon, a Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson clarified that the dates of talks between the two foreign secretaries were still under discussion. The Indian side pointed to that statement to indicate that Basis was ‘out of the loop’. But it would be difficult for India to agree to any talks in the absence of a visit of NIA to Pakistan. It remains to be seen how the two sides negotiate the latest twist in their bilateral ties.

However, the relations are unlikely to escalate into a war of words in the near future, given that Islamabad will be hosting the South Asian Association for Regional 

Cooperation (SAARC) Summit later this year. Sharif had invited Modi to attend the summit and the Indian PM has accepted. Indian PMs were in attendance on the previous two occasions that Islamabad hosted the SAARC Summit. If it was Rajiv Gandhi who attended the summit in 1988, Atal Bihari Vajpayee attended in 2004.

For now, Basit's comments are a political embarrassment for the PM. Former PM Manmohan Singh has more than once pointed to the inconsistencies in Modi's Pakistan policy and is critical of him having visited Lahore. Modi's efforts, however, could give him the moral authority to take a much tougher line against Pakistan in the future, but that time is not now.