Modi 's unannounced visit to Pakistan, must have taken the world by surprise. It is a well marked deviation from the formal schedules. Now can any one accuse us of running away from peace process with Pakistan? I can say that this Modi's outreach to Pakistan is an act of statesmanship because he has taken a calculated risk as past attempts in Normalising relations have been sabotaged by Pakistani military establishment and ISI. Any provocative act from Pakistan's non-state players would weaken Modi 's popularity and image. But certainly this brief stopover in Lahore on his way back to India from Kabul on the invitation from Nawaz Shariff must have given a flip to Indo- Pak dialogue. This brand of diplomacy was hailed by everyone, which may help in infusing positive atmosphere to move forward and to sort out outstanding issues.
In this connection much significance is attached to this visit, which comes just after a friendly meeting between two PM's, India & Pakistan in Paris, a breakthrough meeting between, NSAs of India & Pakistan in Bankok and FMs of the said countries and even the Pakistan's military too must come round now because of the prevailing situation in Pakistan. The fact of the matter is Modi's out- of - the-box diplomacy may not give dividends immediately but may pave way for a comprehensive dialogue in due course of time.Here again, I have to call spade a spade with regards to Congress 's opposition to the visit and what it shouldn't do is to undermine the efforts of Mr Modi. Now I will not be going into the details on this aspect as this itself is a big topic in its own way.
But it is also true that though, UN, US, China etc have supported the move, it is not free from objective criticism and I will be failing in my obligation if don't put it before you for better appreciation and understanding as I have the habit of thinking from the other man's point of view. Some intellectuals are of the opinion that the visit has only sent out confusing signals about how the Govt wants to direct the bilateral relations with a country that has till now refused to address our deep concerns over ISI aided acts of terror in India. Some individuals have said, that there is a lack of consistency which is the hallmark of Modi's highly personalised style of functioning, while keeping aside the institutionalised foreign policy making process. They even went to the extent of saying that the theatrics and showmanship do make good headlines, but are not substitutes for initiating structured diplomatic moves. Whether it is Mumbai serial blast prime accused Dawood, being sheltered and protected in Pakistan or Lakhvi of 26/11 mastermind, Pakistan's response has been least encouraging. These two examples have been quoted them,
Since strong and weak points are there on both sides of argument, our media should stop making a song and dance, about the whole event, It must be a just normal planned visit and the drama must have been an after thought. But whatever it is one hopes that only the incidents to follow will be able to prove the validity of the visit.
