I
n an indication that India’s relations with Pakistan are heading for a rough patch under a likely BJP government in New Delhi, India’s chief opposition asked Islamabad not to meddle in its internal affairs after a Pakistani minister said that the party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will “destabilise regional peace.”
In remarks that are seen widely as intrusive and distasteful in India, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s comments that Modi, if elected o power, will destabilise regional peace, elicited sharp reaction from the BJP, with the ruling Congress also registering its outrage.
The BJP, which is seen as a frontrunner in forming the next government, said Pakistan should not interfere in India’s internal affairs and asked it to mend its ways. “We will tell Islamabad to mend their ways, the manner in which they have been functioning and trying to work with India will not work,” said BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi. India did not interfere in electoral politics or internal affairs of other countries and expected the same from them, she said.
Ms Lekhi clarified that Mr Modi had never spoken about attacking Pakistan and was only questioning Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s attitude of making public the governments efforts to bring back Dawood Ibrahim. “What I do not understand is, this person, Choudhary Nisar Ali Khan, who is the Interior Minister, is he admitting the presence of Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan?” “When a person of the opposition party and the incumbent Prime Minister is making some remarks about the internal working of the country, how is Pakistan affected with that,” said Ms Lekhi.
In a surprise show of unity in the face of Pakistan’s meddling, the Congress joined the BJP in attacking Pakistan for its remarks on Narendra Modi and demanded immediate handing over of India’s most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim.
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If such a statement is made by the Pakistan’s Interior Minister, this is very unfortunate, condemnable and the Pakistan government must do introspection on it,” Congress leader and Union Minister Manish Tewari told reporters.
The results of India’s parliamentary elections will be declared on May 16. If the BJP forms the next government, it is expected to be tough on the issue of cross-border terror. The BJP, however, may surprise those who are predicting rough times for India-Pakistan relations by focusing on expanding economic engagement with the neighbouring country.
Opinion is divided in Pakistan over the course of India-Pakistan relations under a likely Modi government, with many analysts and commentators raking up his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots in which over 1,000 people were killed, most of whom where Muslims.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit has, however, struck a positive note on the trajectory of India-Pakistan relation under the next dispensation in New Delhi. Interacting with journalists in New Delhi, the Pakistani envoy had welcomed Mr Modi’s statement that India-Pakistan relations should be “balanced” with no intimidation from either side and voiced his country’s willingness to work with the new government. “We are very much encouraged. Hope we now have good stable relations. We are very keenly looking forward to working with the new government so that we can quickly, meaningfully and comprehensively engage (in resolving all issues),” said Mr Basit.
In one of his rare remarks on foreign policy, Mr Modi had said in an interview that “relationships with all countries should be balanced” and “no country should intimidate us and neither should we do it.”
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