India needs to be decisive

The recent deaths of five Indian soldiers in an ambush killing carried out by Pakistani troops, along the Line of Control (LoC) at Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir has sparked a lot of rage and displeasure among the people of the country. With such kind of heinous killings led by the troops coming from across the border, any sort of good relation between India and Pakistan has now become skeptical.

After Nawaz Sharif was once again sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he spoke about picking up threads and resuming ties with India. If the sources are anything to go by, Sharif is keen on reviving the K-plan or Kashmir-plan.

Post-independence, there is a struggle between India and Pakistan regarding Kashmir. During the 90s, when Nawaz Sharif was Pakistan PM, India and Pakistan were in a war-like situation which finally led to the Kargil War of 1999. India emerged victorious, but since then, the bilateral ties have been soured.

Kashmir is often regarded as a troubled Indian state, the advantage of which Pakistan tries to take. There are often reports of internal conflict in Kashmir, most of which happen due to the presence of Indian Army in the state. People in Kashmir feel insecure as the Indian Army enjoys a lot of freedom over there and the army men being aggressive in nature, open fire at any one and at any time if they smell any conspiracy or witness any kind of protests or riots whatsoever. This has led to a state of unrest in the Kashmir valley.

The state of destabilization in Kashmir and the Indian army being pre-occupied with the duty of internal securities has added fuel to Sharif’s K-plan. The recent attacks on the LoC, ceasefire violations and infiltrations prove that Sharif’s K-plan has come into action.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif are slated to meet at United Nations’ General Assembly meeting at New York next month. It’s expected that there shall be peace talks between the two countries and both shall try to improve the bilateral ties. Nothing on the ‘Kashmir issue’ has been talked about yet.

On the Pakistani side, the blame of infiltrations and ceasefire violations has been pinned on Indian army and government. The Pakistan National Assembly and Punjab Provincial Assembly have accused India for hostile actions on the LoC. But even after this resolution, Sharif has declared that the meeting with Indian PM Manmohan Singh at New York in September will not be in jeopardy.

India needs to act very decisively and diplomatically, if it has to establish good relations with Pakistan. While doing so, it has to safeguard the interests of its countrymen and maintain peace and order in the country. A careful plan needs to be chalked out for Kashmir.