India’s new envoy to Pakistan could face rough ride ahead
ISLAMABAD: India’s new envoy to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, faces possibly one of the most challenging assignments of his career as relations between the two countries show no signs of warming.
Bisaria’s immediate challenge will be to handle the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, with hopes in India rising that the former Indian Navy officer, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court, would be released.
The hopes have arisen after Pakistan agreed to allow a meeting between Jadhav and his wife and mother. However, there are no such hopes on the Pakistani side of the border.
Jadhav’s execution was stayed after India approached the International Court of Justice, which is expected to rule on the matter next year. India has so far not been given consular access to Jadhav, who was accused of involvement in spying.
“If the case is mishandled in any way, it could have serious political repercussions in India,” said analyst Naveed Hussain, adding India’s expectations from its high commissioner in this regard “may be unrealistic”.
Normalisation of bilateral ties continues to be a much talked about issue in Islamabad but accusations of cross-border terrorism from India and the tensions on the Line of Control in Kashmir suggest that no serious dialogue can take place between the two countries at this point.
Both countries have a different take on terrorism. Pakistan feels its side of the story is not being heard even though it has paid a heavy price in terms of casualties in terror attacks. Bisaria will hear a lot of this in his meetings with Pakistani officials.
The biggest challenge for Bisaria would be to engage all stakeholders in Pakistan. There is a power vacuum in Pakistan, with the government functioning at half-strength and the militaryled establishment trying to oust Nawaz Sharif and his family.