Thaw on the western front

Talks with Taliban, J&K leaders, thaw with Pakistan are strategic imperatives for Modi govt. It can't covet US as Quad ally in the east and work at counter-purposes with them in the west

Thank you, Mehbooba Mufti, for the cue for this week’s National Interest. As the key Jammu & Kashmir alliance, PAGD, announced its acceptance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation for the all-party meeting in New Delhi, she said that India should also talk to Pakistan to find a final solution to the Kashmir issue. And then asked, somewhat rhetorically, “if India is talking to the Taliban, what’s wrong with talking to Pakistan?”

Good question. But why should India be talking to the Taliban in the first place? There is no love lost there. India will never forget or forgive the