The Big Story: Surgical diplomacy needed

The Indian raids along the Line of Control on September 29 were a turning point of sorts in India-Pakistan relations. There is no doubt that the move was a success domestically. It boosted the Modi government’s stock and allowed it to project itself as a decisive political force. On Monday, in fact, the Union defence minister credited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s training for bestowing the Union government with the will to undertake the operation. In the sphere of foreign affairs, though, the success of the September 29 operation is rather more suspect.

While the United States did support India’s moves along the Line of Control to hit at militant groups, any further movement on Washington’s part has been slow in coming. In fact, the Obama administration was clear that it would not support a bill introduced in the US Congress on September 20 by Congressman Ted Poe, chairman of the House subcommittee on terrorism, calling for Pakistan to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

What has made matters worse is that China has come out openly in support of Pakistan. India, hamstrung with its unequal economic relationship and unable to think out of the box, has quietly looked on. Earlier this month, China blocked attempts at the United Nations to put curbs on Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar. At the Brics summit in Goa on the weekend, China halted India's effort to name Pakistan-based terror groups, the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. Far from making progress on Pakistan, it seems China is intent on even weaning away Dhaka, firmly in India’s sphere of influence for the past decade. Beijing has signed multiple agreements with Bangladesh for investments worth more than $25 billion – making India’s $2 billion investment aim in Bangladesh look puny.

Nothing highlights India’s diplomatic failure more than Russia. India’s oldest friend, Moscow has moved increasingly closer to Pakistan, a country with which it had limited ties till now. Russia held military exercises with the Pakistani Army and stood by as China blocked India’s attempts to directly name Pakistan-based terror groups at the Brics summit.

The Modi government did a good job of converting the so-called surgical strikes into hard political capital. However, it should also concentrate some of its efforts on managing the diplomatic aspect of pinning Pakistan down in the global arena.

The Big Scroll

Seema Sirohi explains why America and Pakistan are still cosy after Uri attack.

Political Picks

  1. Disillusioned with the Congress party picking Sheila Dikshit over her as the chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh, former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi might jump over to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
  2. Nine months after his death and amid the unsettled debate over his caste, a video of Rohith Vemula describing himself as a “Dalit from Guntur” has surfaced online.
  3. Brics Summit: China defends “all-weather” ally Pakistan after Modi calls it “mothership of terror”.
  4. Just one company, Essar, is responsible for 10% of the non-performing assets of India’s banking system.

Punditry

  1. Given the vast gap between India and China’s economy, Delhi should move away from trying to find parity and look for more unorthodox ways to balance Beijing. C Raja Mohan explains how in the Indian Express.
  2. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s efforts to suddenly rake up the issue of a uniform civil code have more to do with electoral politics than social reform, says Vinod Sharma in the Hindustan Times.
  3. In the age of social media, the Bengali-language media’s failure to report on communal violence in West Bengal is making matters worse, argues Aniruddha Ghosal in the Indian Express.

Giggle

Don't Miss

For Dalit-Muslim unity, Mayawati must focus on caste, not religion, says Ajaz Ashraf.

Usually, a social group switches its political allegiance from one election to another only in exceptional circumstances. For instance, many castes broke away from their traditional pattern of voting when Mandal-Mandir politics, beginning 1990, made social plates to move unpredictably. Then again, the SP polled 62.5% of Muslim votes in 2002, a gain of 22.5% over the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, perhaps riding high on the fear of Muslims engendered by anti-minority policies of the then NDA government at the Centre.

For a Dalit-Muslim consolidation to happen in the BSP’s favour in UP, and give her an edge in the election sweepstakes, CSDS’ Verma says, it will have to poll Dalit votes close to what it bagged in 2007 and also double its Muslim votes from the 20% it notched in 2012.