NEW DELHI – PM Narendra Modi has come under tremendous pressure from Indianmedia and analysts over diplomatic pressure from Pakistani PM Imran Khan.
Indian media has advised that PM Modi should respond positively to PrimeMinister Imran Khan’s offer of peace gestures to resolve all theoutstanding issues, instead shying away from the peace initiatives andclinging to its failed policies.
In a detailed write-up in the upcoming magazine edition of ‘India Today’, aleading Indian newspaper, a writer called upon the Indian government not tounderestimate PM Khan’s capabilities.
The writer said as a cricketer, Imran Khan was lauded for his fearlessness.“What made him one of the greatest all-rounders of the game was not justhis ability to take big risks but also, as captain of the Pakistan team,pull off impossible victories,” he said, referring to the 1992 World Cup,in which Pakistan team was the underdog, but despite a shoulder injury,Imran came roaring back and led his team to a famous victory, the first andonly time that Pakistan lifted the World Cup. “The moral of the story:never underestimate Imran Khan.” He said those who had done so have paid aheavy price. Nawaz Sharif in his third term as prime minister of Pakistandid that as did Asif Ali Zardari when he was president of Pakistan. “Now,the two most important families in Pakistan the Sharifs and the Bhuttosfind themselves in the political wilderness facing serious corruptioncharges,” he added.
On the other hand, Imran Khan has been an elected prime minister. WhenImran Khan took over as Pakistan’s political captain this August, team Modihad made a similar miscalculation. They assumed the new prime ministerwould be weighed down by the country’s dire economic woes and foreignpolicy issues, he added.
Read Top Stories
The piece of writing recognized that India failed to realize that it has todeal with a new political entity in Pakistan. To Imran’s assertion that hewas willing to take two steps forward, for every one that India took toimprove relations, was also mishandled by the Modi’s team.
The writer noted that calling off the talks by India between Pakistan’sforeign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Indian external affairs ministerSushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly wasnot a good attempt. “The reasons India gave for first accepting the talksand then summarily cancelling them, were widely regarded as unconvincingand incoherent,” the writer added.
The writer further said Prime Minister Imran Khan also surprised India whenQureshi informed that they would be holding a formal ground-breakingceremony at the Kartarpur gurudwara on November 28 to build a corridorconnecting it to the Indian border facilitating the Indian Sikhs to visitwithout a visa.
