Amir Zia
The News
Monday, December 01, 2014
The persistent Pakistan-India deadlock does not mean that the top leaders of the two countries should also abandon basic courtesies and diplomatic norms. There can always be a symbolic handshake and a fake smile, which means nothing and says little if the paths of Sharif and Modi cross again in the near or distant future
You don’t have to be the best of friends to shake hands. It is really just a kind of courtesy that has been in vogue in many cultures and regions for more than two millennia now. Who should know this better than the two veteran politicians of South Asia – Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif – holding the destiny of the more than 1.4 billion people of India and Pakistan in their hands?
You shake hands often with complete strangers, knowing well that your paths are unlikely to cross again. Time and again, you shake hands with your rivals and even enemies – wearing a hypocritical smile on your face. In many cultures, deals are sealed and bets are placed with a mere handshake. With friends, of course, a warm handshake is a sign of affection.
Yes, in the modern world a handshake has long become a custom, at least in most formal interactions – no matter that the skin-to-skin contact often results in the spread of countless germs. Still, my dear readers, most of us take the risk of the germ exposure and shake hands. For it is the demand of our age and times.
It is only people devoid of basic manners or with conceited and immature minds who display their uncivilised emotions – of dislike, hatred and anger – by refusing to shake hands with rivals. This sort of behaviour is fairly common and even considered acceptable among school children, emotional teenagers, small-time neighbourhood goons and many self-absorbed men and women who lack cultivated and educated minds.
And of course the prime ministers of Pakistan and India do not fall into this category. They are among the best and savvy politicians on both sides of the great divide.
They must be aware that in the practical world, even all the ‘good’ and ‘charming’ villains posses the ability to conquer emotions and offer their hands to shake – with a smile. As Shakespeare aptly wrote in Hamlet; “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”
The brief or extended up and down movement of the clasped hands of two individuals may mean nothing but just a display of manners, which certainly “are of more importance than morals’’ if one takes the advice of the great Irish writer, poet and master wit Oscar Wilde seriously and literally.
Many of the high mighty, and those in the making, act on this advice without even reading Wilde. It comes to them naturally, just by instinct. One finds this trait – of having good manners without morals – also among all social climbers.
Yet, at the inaugural session of the 18th Saarc Summit in Kathmandu, these two veteran leaders failed to do the basic doable, casting a shadow on the entire event. The Indian and Pakistani premiers refused even eye contact let alone shaking hands or exchanging courtesies with one another, though they shared the dais for nearly three hours.
Sharif and Modi – sitting two seats away from one another – did not bother looking at each other. Their glum and serious faces and their deliberate efforts to avoid each other brought perhaps all the bad and the ugly of South Asian diplomacy in full public glare.
Agreed, Pakistan and India have shelved the bilateral talks’ process – courtesy Modi Sarkar’s obstinate and aggressive stance in which it wants to dictate the terms of engagement and even how to proceed on mere talks aimed to resume talks. (New Delhi cancelled the secretary-level talks scheduled in August because the Pakistani high commissioner met leaders of occupied Kashmir, which has otherwise been a long-time convention).
Agreed, that the two countries are far from breaking the deadlock as the troops of both countries frequently exchange fire at the Working Boundary in the disputed Kashmir region.
But a brief handshake, which Sharif and Modi eventually did at the close of the Saarc Summit, was also possible at the inaugural session without all those unnecessary gestures bordering on farcical melodrama. Just a symbolic handshake, committing or meaning nothing, is common courtesy which heads of government should never hesitate to extend to their foes.
Credit should go to the Pakistani leaders that, despite all the provocations, they have never said for once that they are not willing to come on the table for talks – even for the sake of talks. However, Islamabad remains justified in its demand that any future initiative for talks should come from New Delhi which alone is responsible for scuttling this process.
It is indeed ironic that Saarc remains hostage to the tensions between its two largest nuclear-armed member states. It was just in the last hours of the summit that a symbolic Nawaz-Modi handshake saved the day much to the relief of other member nations and resulted at least in one agreement on electricity sharing and a common grid. The other two agreements on road and railways networks in the South Asian region were put on hold because of Pakistan’s objections.
There should be no illusion that the impasse between Pakistan and India will end any time soon.
The Modi government’s domestic agenda, in which it aims to scrap the special status of occupied Kashmir as guaranteed in the Indian constitution, will prevent it from lowering tensions with Pakistan. Anti-Pakistan rhetoric and allegations of terrorism sell well in Modi’s hawkish India and are likely to yield fruits during state elections in India.
The Modi government’s hostile stance towards Pakistan and its efforts to isolate it in the region is indeed a personal setback for Sharif, who made improving relations with New Delhi one of the pillars of his foreign policy objectives. Sharif has to reconcile with the fact that the time for his ‘great idea’ has not come yet. His subjective desires of friendship with India and expanding trade and economic relations stand shattered due tos the harsh objective realties.
The Sharif government needs to have a holistic review of its policy towards India in which the initiative for the resumption or suspension of the talks seems to be in New Delhi’s hands. Islamabad appears to be only belatedly reacting to the aggressive Indian diplomatic and military posturing and practical steps. This makes it all the more necessary for Pakistan’s military and civilian leadership to work in tandem to counter the Modi challenge.
Prime Minister Sharif’s act of highlighting the Kashmir dispute to the world, including the United Nations, is a step in the right direction. There should be more aggressive efforts to make the world capitals aware of the Pakistani position since sticking to bilateralism – an Indian demand – is taking us nowhere.
The hawks and doves in Pakistan should both brace at best for a prolonged period of bad peace with their eastern neighbour – which is now a stark reality. The civilian and military leadership should agree to disagree with the Indian position.
But the persistent Pakistan-India deadlock does not mean that the top leaders of the two countries should also abandon basic courtesies and diplomatic norms. There can always be a symbolic handshake and a fake smile, which means nothing and says little if the paths of Sharif and Modi cross again in the near or distant future.
The News
Monday, December 01, 2014
The persistent Pakistan-India deadlock does not mean that the top leaders of the two countries should also abandon basic courtesies and diplomatic norms. There can always be a symbolic handshake and a fake smile, which means nothing and says little if the paths of Sharif and Modi cross again in the near or distant future
You don’t have to be the best of friends to shake hands. It is really just a kind of courtesy that has been in vogue in many cultures and regions for more than two millennia now. Who should know this better than the two veteran politicians of South Asia – Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif – holding the destiny of the more than 1.4 billion people of India and Pakistan in their hands?
You shake hands often with complete strangers, knowing well that your paths are unlikely to cross again. Time and again, you shake hands with your rivals and even enemies – wearing a hypocritical smile on your face. In many cultures, deals are sealed and bets are placed with a mere handshake. With friends, of course, a warm handshake is a sign of affection.
Yes, in the modern world a handshake has long become a custom, at least in most formal interactions – no matter that the skin-to-skin contact often results in the spread of countless germs. Still, my dear readers, most of us take the risk of the germ exposure and shake hands. For it is the demand of our age and times.
It is only people devoid of basic manners or with conceited and immature minds who display their uncivilised emotions – of dislike, hatred and anger – by refusing to shake hands with rivals. This sort of behaviour is fairly common and even considered acceptable among school children, emotional teenagers, small-time neighbourhood goons and many self-absorbed men and women who lack cultivated and educated minds.
And of course the prime ministers of Pakistan and India do not fall into this category. They are among the best and savvy politicians on both sides of the great divide.
They must be aware that in the practical world, even all the ‘good’ and ‘charming’ villains posses the ability to conquer emotions and offer their hands to shake – with a smile. As Shakespeare aptly wrote in Hamlet; “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”
The brief or extended up and down movement of the clasped hands of two individuals may mean nothing but just a display of manners, which certainly “are of more importance than morals’’ if one takes the advice of the great Irish writer, poet and master wit Oscar Wilde seriously and literally.
Many of the high mighty, and those in the making, act on this advice without even reading Wilde. It comes to them naturally, just by instinct. One finds this trait – of having good manners without morals – also among all social climbers.
Yet, at the inaugural session of the 18th Saarc Summit in Kathmandu, these two veteran leaders failed to do the basic doable, casting a shadow on the entire event. The Indian and Pakistani premiers refused even eye contact let alone shaking hands or exchanging courtesies with one another, though they shared the dais for nearly three hours.
Sharif and Modi – sitting two seats away from one another – did not bother looking at each other. Their glum and serious faces and their deliberate efforts to avoid each other brought perhaps all the bad and the ugly of South Asian diplomacy in full public glare.
Agreed, Pakistan and India have shelved the bilateral talks’ process – courtesy Modi Sarkar’s obstinate and aggressive stance in which it wants to dictate the terms of engagement and even how to proceed on mere talks aimed to resume talks. (New Delhi cancelled the secretary-level talks scheduled in August because the Pakistani high commissioner met leaders of occupied Kashmir, which has otherwise been a long-time convention).
Agreed, that the two countries are far from breaking the deadlock as the troops of both countries frequently exchange fire at the Working Boundary in the disputed Kashmir region.
But a brief handshake, which Sharif and Modi eventually did at the close of the Saarc Summit, was also possible at the inaugural session without all those unnecessary gestures bordering on farcical melodrama. Just a symbolic handshake, committing or meaning nothing, is common courtesy which heads of government should never hesitate to extend to their foes.
Credit should go to the Pakistani leaders that, despite all the provocations, they have never said for once that they are not willing to come on the table for talks – even for the sake of talks. However, Islamabad remains justified in its demand that any future initiative for talks should come from New Delhi which alone is responsible for scuttling this process.
It is indeed ironic that Saarc remains hostage to the tensions between its two largest nuclear-armed member states. It was just in the last hours of the summit that a symbolic Nawaz-Modi handshake saved the day much to the relief of other member nations and resulted at least in one agreement on electricity sharing and a common grid. The other two agreements on road and railways networks in the South Asian region were put on hold because of Pakistan’s objections.
There should be no illusion that the impasse between Pakistan and India will end any time soon.
The Modi government’s domestic agenda, in which it aims to scrap the special status of occupied Kashmir as guaranteed in the Indian constitution, will prevent it from lowering tensions with Pakistan. Anti-Pakistan rhetoric and allegations of terrorism sell well in Modi’s hawkish India and are likely to yield fruits during state elections in India.
The Modi government’s hostile stance towards Pakistan and its efforts to isolate it in the region is indeed a personal setback for Sharif, who made improving relations with New Delhi one of the pillars of his foreign policy objectives. Sharif has to reconcile with the fact that the time for his ‘great idea’ has not come yet. His subjective desires of friendship with India and expanding trade and economic relations stand shattered due tos the harsh objective realties.
The Sharif government needs to have a holistic review of its policy towards India in which the initiative for the resumption or suspension of the talks seems to be in New Delhi’s hands. Islamabad appears to be only belatedly reacting to the aggressive Indian diplomatic and military posturing and practical steps. This makes it all the more necessary for Pakistan’s military and civilian leadership to work in tandem to counter the Modi challenge.
Prime Minister Sharif’s act of highlighting the Kashmir dispute to the world, including the United Nations, is a step in the right direction. There should be more aggressive efforts to make the world capitals aware of the Pakistani position since sticking to bilateralism – an Indian demand – is taking us nowhere.
The hawks and doves in Pakistan should both brace at best for a prolonged period of bad peace with their eastern neighbour – which is now a stark reality. The civilian and military leadership should agree to disagree with the Indian position.
But the persistent Pakistan-India deadlock does not mean that the top leaders of the two countries should also abandon basic courtesies and diplomatic norms. There can always be a symbolic handshake and a fake smile, which means nothing and says little if the paths of Sharif and Modi cross again in the near or distant future.
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