Disgust and duty

V K Singh's comment reveals govt's incoherent Pakistan strategy

V K Singh, the minister of state for external affairs, is no stranger to positions of power or to public scrutiny. He is a former chief of army staff, and did not exactly avoid the headlines during his tenure. Thus, there is little excuse for his having apparently broken the basic rules of diplomacy – and of politeness – by taking to Twitter to convey “disgust” barely an hour after performing his “duty” of attending Pakistan Day celebrations at that country’s high commission in New Delhi on Monday. After eyebrows were raised at this public display of foreign-policy incoherence, Mr Singh subsequently tried to claim that his post on Twitter about “disgust” – which quoted the word’s dictionary definition – was meant to be a reference to the media. Unfortunately for Mr Singh, additional attention had already come to be paid to the Pakistan Day celebrations because the high commission was not just hosting the minister but also members of the separatist Hurriyat from Kashmir — and the Narendra Modi-led government had broken off secretary-level talks with Pakistan because of a previous occasion on which the high commissioner had met Hurriyat leaders.

In effect, Mr Singh’s outburst drew attention to the lack of coherence that has come to mark the government’s attitude to Islamabad. If Mr Modi started off excellently, by inviting his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, to his swearing-in – and exchanging sarees for each other’s mothers – this promising start rapidly deteriorated. A few months later, secretary-level talks were also cancelled. It was obvious from the beginning that things had not been carefully thought through. While there is nothing wrong with trying a little coercive diplomacy, it needs to be precipitated by a clear misstep on the part of the other country; and it needs to have a clear exit strategy. Given that, for example, the secretary-level talks were called off over a routine meeting, what could serve as a signal that the act of coercive diplomacy had succeeded? In the event, nothing did: the government merely had to resume the talks with no major concession granted by Pakistan, trying and failing to disguise the resumption as a “Saarc yatra” conducted by the new foreign secretary.

India’s leadership must not be seen to be floundering and playing to the gallery, and instead it should develop a coherent, consistent and mature Pakistan strategy soon. It must also recognise that dealing with Pakistan has to start with accepting some basic facts: that a wholesale transformation of that country’s power structure is the only way to ensure India’s national security. Unfortunately, belligerent postures and humiliating the political leadership only serve to strengthen the anti-India army. And confusion helps nobody — definitely not the government.