Stay the Lahore course

It took just eight days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise stopover in Lahore for the inevitable to happen. And it was big. As the security forces battled to quash the threat, public opinion is being stirred against his judgment about rebuilding bridges with Pakistan. The Pathankot attack was exactly meant to do that — bring hostility surging back in the narrative of Indo-Pak ties. The relationship was about to be rescued from institutional vendors of negativity. Now Pathankot has happened.

 

In the context of both countries trying to turn a new page, the attack and its intensity should not have been a surprise. There are elements on both sides with a vested interest in keeping the pot boiling. After about 16 months in office, the Prime Minister seemed to have put aside his own cultivated hostility towards Pakistan and, for now, overruled the hawks in his security establishment. He seemed to be coming to terms with the axiom that domestic and foreign policy imperatives do not countenance permanent hostility as a workable strategy.

 

The Opposition’s initial reaction to the Pathankot was reasonable. Apart from stray pot shots, the Opposition commended the security forces for their fortitude and desisted from hauling Modi over the coals for going to Pakistan. While the road to restoration of civility in bilateral diplomatic ties will be a long haul, Modi should  try to neutralise the domestic obstructionists wanting to inflame and incite Indian public opinion against Indo-Pak dialogue in the wake of the Pathankot attack. The challenge before Modi, if the Pak opening was not another headline grabbing moment, will be to control the hotheads within his Parivar as well as build bridges with reasonable sections of the Opposition to isolate the spoilers. The wreckers who carried out the hits in Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Udhampur will return like a bad penny. Modi will need to curb his own instincts for abolsute power  and his colleagues' practiced machismo to build political consensus and steer India towards a constructive engagement with Pakistan. He is being tested. He must stay the Lahore course.