The meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ufa, Russia is major breakthrough after months of claims and counter claims between the two countries. Both the leaders met at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif extended an invitation to his Indian counterpart to visit the SAARC Summit in Pakistan in 2016, an invitation PM Modi duly accepted.
The meeting is indeed a big breakthrough in terms of diplomatic relations and dialogue between the two countries but the joint statement issued after the meeting has given India the upper hand. In the months leading up to the meeting there was consensus in Pakistan that India is indeed sponsoring terror activities in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. There’s also the Kashmir issue which is of vital importance to not just Pakistan but the Kashmiri’s too. Finally there was the important issue of India’s water terrorism which has gathered pace with India aggressively building new dams up stream on Pakistani rivers. India has also over the last few years caused flood in Pakistan by releasing large amount of water without any advance warnings.
PM’s Spokesman Dr Musadiq Malik defending the joint statement said that Pakistan didn’t raise the issue of Kashmir or that of India sponsoring terror activities as it could have harmed the dialogue process. If talking on issues of country’s national security can harm the dialogue process can anything constructive be really achieved from it? On the other hand India was able to include matters pertaining to the Mumbai incident in the joint statement. Pakistan all but surrendered its strong position on the diplomatic front and gave India the chance to let the world know that the Mumabi incident is far more important and serious than Kashmir.
The weak stance adopted by PM Nawaz during his meeting with PM Modi has strengthened India’s position on the diplomatic front.