The chill in the Himalayas, during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit, which concluded in Kathmandu on Thursday, was not just generated by the weather, but from the frosty atmosphere fashioned by the Indian and Pakistani delegations. The hostile vibes between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif have been the result of months of suspicion and hostility. This has resulted in bilateral talks between the two countries taking a back seat. For a while, it also threatened to cast a blanket of cynicism over the summit. Both countries must look for fruitful alternatives with a view to ironing out their existing differences, which seem to crop up every time there is a hint of progress on the ground. In this context, the Saarc summit could be seen as an opportunity wasted.
India and Pakistan carry their fair share of clout and if this influence is leveraged towards mutual cooperation and goodwill, across diverse platforms, then the regional climate will improve drastically. The continued strain in ties seems to be shackling the two neighbours from drafting a structured future.
Dialogue must be revived once again at the foreign secretary level, given that India had cancelled talks earlier. The issue must be fast-tracked by addressing concerns over security, economy, trade, energy and people-to-people contact. With the threat of extremism hanging in the air and tension being generated across international borders, both countries must trust each other’s motives and work towards ensuring a climate of regional peace and stability. Indulging in a war of words is a shallow exercise that ultimately serves no purpose except to satisfy the agenda of narrow-minded politicians and other third-party actors who profit from a climate of hostility.
In this context, the civil handshake and smiles shared between Modi and Sharif, during the closing stages of the summit, could hold out more cause for optimism and disprove the assessment of the pessimists.
