- 2014 regime change: India adopted neighborhood first policy in the swearing-in ceremony of PM
- Pakistani counterpart was also invited in 2015
- Indian PM made a reciprocal visit to Pakistan and these two occasions brought the Shawl Saree Diplomacy b/w India & Pak into the limelight
- traditionally, india & pak have witnessed a slew of diplomacy such as mango diplomacy, cricket diplomacy, soft diplomacy initiatives like student exchange programs, cross border visits artist CBM etc
- however, after Uri Attack (2016) & Pulwama Attack (2019), India’s policy towards Pak witnessed a strategic shift
- engagement ❌
- isolation ✅
- post Uri Attack, surgical strikes conducted from Indian side which helped India emerge as a hard power
- but at the same time created a dent in Indo Pak engagements
- wrt. Pak, we currently following Doval Doctrine
Doval Doctrine
- emphasises a proactive stance against state sponsored terrorism and other security threats emanating from Pak and other sources
- aims to protect India's national security by adopting a defensive offensive strategy which means defending ourselves by attacking the place from where the offence is coming
- eg. Surgical Strike post Uri Attack
- India tried a strategy to work on the vulnerabilities of pak
- eg. Baluchistan, IWT, Gilgit Baltistan
- all these pressure tactics signify “respond in the language what your adversary undestands”
- Pak is SAR and immediate neighbor, can’t ignore. Must adopt strategic patience and measured response
- keep in mind that coercive diplomacy will not always work due to Pak’s tremendous enduring capacity
- use soft diplomacy
- eg. Hydro diplomacy within IWT could be used in India, creating an of water grid to address the issue of water scarcity
- Cultural diplomacy could be encouraged through greater people - people interaction
- use of track II & III diplomacy such as opening of Kartarpur Corridor
- even track IV diplomacy for resolving complex issues needs to be adopted
- refer: Track Diplomacy
- maintain deterrence by denial i.e. enhancing military capabilities to deter the adversary from achieving their aims
- India should strengthen itself in existing regional orgs like ASEAN, IMSTEC to isolate Pak diplomatically
- India is advocating creation of an open rule based order in the Indo Pacific & is part of the democratic axis within QUAD
- India should not consider pak as the only imp country in south asia. Only when India becomes less Pak centric, can re-emerge as an Asian leader
2 options wrt Pak
- WAR ⚔️ pls no its not rational 😩
- Peacebuilding 🎎❇️ yes pls
- Ultimate solution should be peacebuilding through dialogue & diplomacy since the former option of war is extremely disastrous