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On Punjabiyat
C. Raja Mohan Posted online: Wed May 15 2013, 03:15 hrs

A fortnightly column on the high politics of the Af-Pak region, the fulcrum of global power play in Indias neighbourhood ON PUNJABIYAT The weekend telephone talk between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif, who will soon be sworn in as premier of Pakistan, was presumably in Punjabi. There is nothing like the comfort of ones mother-tongue in breaking the political ice between nations. The origins of the current on-again and off-again peace process between India and Pakistan dates back to the determination of two Punjabi-speaking leaders, Sharif and Inder Kumar Gujral. After Sharifs landslide victory in early 1997, Gujral negotiated the framework for the composite dialogue that still provides the basis for India-Pakistan negotiations. It is quite easy for cynics to scoff at New Delhis Lahore brigade and the Punjabi peaceniks who light candles at the Wagah border. But no political realist can forget that the shortest road between the two capitals runs through the divided Punjab. Nawaz Sharif, who invited Manmohan Singh to attend his swearing-in ceremony next week, understands that the Indian PM has tied himself into knots over visiting Pakistan and will not make it. Sharif is also aware that Singhs clock is running down, and that the UPA government headed by him has little political steam left. There is a danger then that the subcontinents traditional curse the misalignment of the political cycles in India and Pakistan might once again compel Delhi to lose yet another moment of opportunity with Islamabad. SENDING BADAL As Delhi debates the governments options towards Sharif within the UPAs self-imposed constraints, there is one way out through the Punjab. It could consider, for example, sending an Indian political delegation headed by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to attend Sharifs swearing-in next week. To be sure, many in Delhi are gnashing their teeth over the UPA losing control over foreign policy, thanks to the pressures from such difficult CMs as Mamata Banerjee. But Bengal and Punjab are two very different stories. Unlike Kolkata, which has seen little political passion for the normalisation of relations with Dhaka, there is a strong bipartisan demand in Amritsar and Chandigarh for a rapid normalisation of ties with Lahore and Islamabad. If Banerjee has undercut Delhis ambitious plans towards Dhaka, Badal could help India move forward with Pakistan. The role strong CMs can play in foreign policy must be viewed from a political perspective rather than the legalist
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prism of Centre-state relations. The PM can turn his current political weakness on its head by getting Badal to create diplomatic space with Pakistan. That should also help reduce the foreign policy friction with the BJP in an election year. After all, the Akali Dal is a political ally of the BJP. VAJPAYEES LEGACY The BJP has its share of stupid hawks who oppose every foreign policy initiative of the UPA. The Congress should remind them of the BJPs foreign policy under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who still remains a political mascot for the party. When Vajpayee travelled to Lahore in February 1999, defying the hawks in his party, he had the wisdom to ask Parkash Singh Badal, the then CM of Punjab, to join his delegation. Vajpayee also encouraged Badals successor, Amarinder Singh of the Congress, to sustain contacts with the Lahore Takht and expand the areas of cooperation between the two Punjabs. Badal, who returned to power, picked up the threads again. His son and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal travelled to Lahore last November and articulated with great vigour the shared aspirations for deeper cooperation between the two provinces. Shahbaz Sharif, Nawazs brother and the CM of Pakistans Punjab, was to make a return visit to Amritsar soon after to maintain the momentum in the ties between the two Punjabs. But renewed military tensions on the Indo-Pak border at the end of the year and the UPAs panicked response, saw the postponement of the visit. The elections in Pakistan provide a new political basis for re-imagining India-Pakistan relations. Nawaz Sharifs victory is rooted in a comprehensive political sweep in Punjab Pakistans largest province. On this side of the Radcliffe Line, there is a strong government, whose leaders are deeply committed to normalisation of relations between the two Punjabs, and between Delhi and Islamabad. The stars in Punjab are in rare alignment for a big political push on the peoples agenda in Indo-Pak relations. The only missing element is a bit of political courage in the Congress party. The writer is a distinguished fellow, Observer Research Foundation, Delhi and a contributing editor for The Indian Express

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