Opinion | Will Modi, won’t Modi?
1 min read . Updated: 24 May 2019, 09:04 PM ISTNarendra Modi’s election campaign is now over and he can pursue what’s best for India—and being locked in a hostility bind with country next door never is
Speculation is rife. Will Narendra Modi invite his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan to his swearing-in ceremony for a second term as prime minister? In 2014, Modi had asked Khan’s predecessor Nawaz Sharif to attend as a goodwill gesture towards our neighbour. This time, it’s a tough question. Ever since the Pulwama terror attack, relations between the two countries have been combative, to say the least. The Indian Air Force struck deep in Pakistani territory as part of the “muh tod jawaab" (jaw-breaking response) promised by Modi. Pakistan found frequent mention in his election campaign as an enemy. On the day of his victory, Pakistan test-fired a surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen II, which has a nuke-delivery range of 1,500 kilometres away. Few think it will be aimed in any direction other than east—at India, that is. Yet, politics is the art of the possible.
On his part, Khan has been making reconciliatory noises from across the border. He even suggested that a Modi victory would help restart peace talks. Modi did not take kindly to Khan’s utterances, given the political circumstances prevalent at the time. Yet, security analysts have long argued—and held out the hope—that a lasting settlement between the two countries is best made by a rightist leader in India and a military backed one in Pakistan (as Khan is seen to be). Is there something to this? Modi, while tough on Pakistan, is also a leader full of surprises. His election campaign is now over and he can pursue what’s best for India—and being locked in a hostility bind with country next door never is. Periodic sabre-rattling between the two is business as usual, but it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that Modi will do something dramatic vis-à-vis Pakistan. An invitation could send a “reset" signal for bilateral ties and give Modi the high ground in global reckoning.