PM Modi under pressure over diplomatic maneuvers from Pakistani PM Imran Khan
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NEW DELHI - PM Narendra Modi has come under tremendous pressure from Indian media and analysts over diplomatic pressure from Pakistani PM Imran Khan.
Indian media has advised that PM Modi should respond positively to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s offer of peace gestures to resolve all the outstanding issues, instead shying away from the peace initiatives and clinging to its failed policies.
In a detailed write-up in the upcoming magazine edition of ‘India Today’, a leading Indian newspaper, a writer called upon the Indian government not to underestimate 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 just his 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 and only 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 a heavy price. Nawaz Sharif in his third term as prime minister of Pakistan did that as did Asif Ali Zardari when he was president of Pakistan. “Now, the two most important families in Pakistan the Sharifs and the Bhuttos find themselves in the political wilderness facing serious corruption charges,” he added.
On the other hand, Imran Khan has been an elected prime minister. When Imran Khan took over as Pakistan’s political captain this August, team Modi had made a similar miscalculation. They assumed the new prime minister would be weighed down by the country’s dire economic woes and foreign policy issues, he added.
The piece of writing recognized that India failed to realize that it has to deal with a new political entity in Pakistan. To Imran’s assertion that he was willing to take two steps forward, for every one that India took to improve relations, was also mishandled by the Modi’s team.
The writer noted that calling off the talks by India between Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly was not a good attempt. “The reasons India gave for first accepting the talks and then summarily cancelling them, were widely regarded as unconvincing and incoherent,” the writer added.
The writer further said Prime Minister Imran Khan also surprised India when Qureshi informed that they would be holding a formal ground-breaking ceremony at the Kartarpur gurudwara on November 28 to build a corridor connecting it to the Indian border facilitating the Indian Sikhs to visit without a visa.
