Deft biarritz moves

Deft biarritz moves

Trump accepts India’s Kashmir position as New Delhi enhances diplomatic quotient.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have deftly put forward India’s position on Kashmir in his meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France. In the press conference by both leaders, Trump reported that Modi felt he had the Kashmir situation under control and expressed confidence in New Delhi’s ability to “do something that will be very good” by speaking with Pakistan – in other words, support for the Indian position that disputes with Pakistan can be resolved bilaterally, and a shift from his previous pitch to mediate in the “explosive” Kashmir dispute.

Modi reinforced that message by shrugging off Islamabad’s attempts to transform Kashmir into an international crisis and paint New Delhi into a diplomatic corner over it. He said there are many issues with Pakistan that are bilateral and New Delhi doesn’t bother other countries about these as solutions could be found through bilateral discussions. He also shifted the discourse away from themes that Pakistan would like to emphasise, by reiterating how India and Pakistan should fight poverty and illiteracy together.

Modi has also gotten Gulf Muslim nations such as UAE and Bahrain – countries that Islamabad sees as its benefactors – to back India’s position. The latter was exemplified by the fact that Modi received UAE’s highest civilian award, Order of Zayed, and was conferred the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance by Bahrain ahead of the G7 Summit. Even as Islamabad showcases itself as a one-issue country, Modi addresses the G7 on pressing global issues of the day such as climate change and digital economy. That ought to be New Delhi’s order of priority. While Kashmir is indeed an important issue in a domestic frame, it doesn’t rank that high among global priorities – Islamabad will only succeed in isolating itself with radical and intemperate rhetoric on Kashmir. Of course, New Delhi also needs to handle the current situation in Kashmir sensitively.

That said, the fact that the US needs to withdraw from Afghanistan means Pakistan still has leverage with Trump. But the ongoing US-China trade war presents an opportunity for India-US trade as Trump has given broad signals to US businesses to move out of China. To attract at least some of them to India New Delhi should move quickly to resolve ongoing US-India trade disputes. Besides being good for the Indian economy, it would also move Washington and New Delhi closer in strategic terms.