New Delhi: With Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ouster, the Pakistan Army seems to have got what it wanted, and the going may get tougher for India to deal with its difficult western neighbour. However, the next Pakistani Prime Minister, who will be hand-picked by Mr Sharif, is expected to be his own brother Shahbaz Sharif who is currently the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab and this could be India’s best bet since it will mean continuity in the policies of Pakistan’s civilian leadership.
The widely-held perception both in Pakistan and India was that Nawaz Sharif was India’s best bet since he was seen as being soft on India. But despite that, he was hamstrung by the hawkish Pakistani security establishment that distrusted his every move since Prime Minister Modi has an excellent personal equation with Mr Sharif and members of his family. Nevertheless, Mr Sharif’s successor will be under more pressure to toe Rawalpindi’s line.
The Pakistan Army never forgave Mr Sharif after the publication of an article in the reputed Dawn newspaper last year which had highlighted the rift between the civilian government and the military over the issue of support to terror groups. The Pakistan Army had the firm belief that the article was published at the instance of Mr Sharif.
Even before that, the Pakistan Army was upset over the excellent personal equations between Mr Modi and Mr Sharif that culminated in the Indian PM’s visit to Lahore to personally wish Mr Sharif on his birthday in 2015.
But in any case, even Mr Sharif had been reduced to a lameduck PM in the past few months and was unable to defy the writ of the Army. Three years ago, the Pakistan Army had almost made up its mind to dislodge Mr Sharif when its favourite former cricket superstar Imran Khan led a march to force the PM to resign. But the Pakistan Army pulled back at the last minute, after a widely-speculated deal with Mr Sharif wherein he would let the Army have the last word on the Kashmir and foreign policy fronts vis-a-vis India.
