There is much to be said for the vision with which the interim government is handling the invitations to the swearing-in of Narendra Modi for the third time as Prime Minister of India. “Neighbourhood first” is the principle that is being upheld in invitations being extended to those closest to home like the leaders of Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.
Good thinking has also been behind the compilation of the longer list that includes the public with space allocated for the heroic rat-hole miners who rescued workers from the road tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand, besides cleaners and conservancy staff, and Padma awardees, too.
There is grace in remembering the valour of the intrepid who paid no heed to their own safety in rescuing others, the sense of duty in people who must do the most menial jobs and upholding the dignity of labour and the accomplishments of those who have earned recognition in their chosen fields.
The list would, however, have been more complete had the Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his brother Nawaz Sharif been invited to join the others who lead countries in a region that may be fraught with issues and geopolitical tensions and yet no one is a sworn enemy of the other.
After all, this swearing-in ceremony of a Modi 3.0 government represents a shift in the political sands of India for the better which promises that hate, and baggage, will be pushed to the background while humanity and its more common everyday concerns take precedence.
An invitation to Pakistan would have recognised a message of contrition that came from across the border with Nawaz Sharif admitting that Islamabad had violated the Lahore Declaration he had signed with Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in 1999, with the Kargil war following soon afterwards.
It stands to reason that the senior Pakistan politician would not have spoken thus without tacit approval from the Pakistan Army. While the big issues of Pakistan’s ISI sponsoring terror on Indian soil and Pakistan’s old vanity subject of Kashmir, whose special status was withdrawn by India in 2019, may seem insurmountable problems, the least that can be done at such a time is to accept the olive branch.
Ignoring for the moment the China factor which will always be there in the region, India may do well to address bilateral issues and protect its interests, towards which restoration of trade ties, which would be beneficial logistics-wise to Pakistan, might well be a starting point to a more realistic position on relationships.
