Khaled Ahmed was born in 1943 in Jallandhar during the siege of Stalingrad. He has been an opinion writer based in Pakistan for the past 40 years. Over his decades of experience, he has worked for <em>The Pakistan Times, The Nation, The Frontier Post, The Friday Times and The Daily Times, three of which have been closed down either permanently or temporarily. He is now consulting editor at Newsweek Pakistan, based in Lahore.</em> Ahmed graduated from Government College Lahore during the 1965 war with India with an MA (Honours) on the roll of honour, along with a diploma in German from Punjab University. In 1970, he received a diploma in Russian (Interpretation) from Moscow State University. In 2006, he wrote the book, Sectarian War: Sunni-Shia Conflict in Pakistan at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington DC.
Hindutva & India’s neighbours
After being ousted in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, many policies will come under review within the BJP, including perhaps the religious fervour frequently unleashed on the minority communities.
BJP governments have been ousted in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. India is digesting the lessons from these defeats as it looks forward to the general election in 2019. Many policies will come under review within the BJP, including perhaps the religious fervour frequently unleashed on the minority communities. Any review should also include a look at the Subcontinent where India is now incontestably the dominant state.
Neighbouring Pakistan finally recognised this when its prime minister and army chief together expressed the desire to normalise relations with India through “talks and trade”. The BJP government’s response to the Kartarpur Corridor was cold. A gutted SAARC was once again kicked aside by New Delhi. On December 11, Pakistan’s foreign secretary, Tehmina Janjua, said Pakistan would continue its efforts for peace in its neighbourhood “despite New Delhi’s negative attitude” and called upon world powers to support Islamabad’s posture of peace with India.
The Kartarpur Corridor overture by a besieged Pakistan was seen realistically by some Indian observers. Strategist C Raja Mohan conceded it wouldn’t take off but hoped it could: “PM Modi, however, might believe that he has little to lose by trying again and India is strong enough to take some political risks with Pakistan. And if the Kartarpur corridor works out well, there could be room to expand his religious diplomacy .”
But there were others who wanted to remind the BJP of India’s ultimate status as a world power, not a little bolstered by its economic achievement and growing influence. Such Indian thinkers wish to persuade the BJP to change policy in the neighbourhood before becoming a power to reckon with at the international level. One such scholar is Bharat Karnad, who takes issue with Modi’s Pakistan policy in Staggering Forward: Narendra Modi and India’s Global Ambition: “The irony is the Modi regime’s strongly held view of not talking with Pakistan until it ends the terror campaign plays into Pakistani strategy. So, the Pakistani Army will continue with its successful kutayuddha — covert war in J&K.”
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