Talk to bajwa

Talk to bajwa

Dialogue with the Pakistani army is an idea whose time has come.

Commenting on the prospect of direct talks between the Indian and Pakistani armies, Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat has said that his Pakistani counterpart General Qamar Bajwa would have to go through the Indian government for a meeting with him. Rawat’s statement was in the context of reports that an overture was made to him by Bajwa last year. While Rawat denied these, he kept open the option of direct talks emphasising that soldiers are straight talkers. There is certainly merit in the idea of initiating direct communication with the Pakistani army.

After all it is the Pakistani army which directs that country’s foreign policy, particularly with respect to India. We may want Pakistani democracy to deepen and the civilian leadership in that country to be the final authority, but we have to accept this won’t be the case in the foreseeable future. Plus, New Delhi has long faced the problem of who to talk to in Pakistan given that Islamabad is never able to guarantee anything. In fact, Pakistanis have made use of this situation of ‘plausible ambiguity’ to keep New Delhi guessing.

Against this backdrop, it makes sense to talk directly to the real power centre in Pakistan – Rawalpindi GHQ. And talks between the two army chiefs could be part of this process. In this respect, India would do well to junk its old Nehruvian posture that completely insulates the army from politics. If senior US army generals can talk to their Pakistani counterparts, despite having differences, why can’t our generals do the same? India today is a mature democracy and the government has nothing to fear from involving the army in its Pakistan policy. They should put their heads together to solve the Pakistan conundrum.