Pakistan election 2024: What is Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s stance on India?

Pakistan is holding its 12th general elections today (8 February) as it grapples with political upheavals and economic crises. About 12.85 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots to elect a new National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, and four provincial legislatures. The general elections are largely expected to be a two-way contest between Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Former prime minister Imran Khan, who is in jail on corruption charges, has been barred from the election. The candidates from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are forced to fight as Independents after the country’s election commission deprived the party of its iconic election symbol, the cricket bat. Pakistan elections are keenly watched by its neighbour India and other world powers like the United States. New Delhi and Islamabad are old foes. Recently, fresh tensions erupted between the two nations after Pakistan accused Indian agents of orchestrating the killings of two Pakistani citizens on Pakistani soil. New Delhi rejected the charges, calling them Islamabad’s attempt at “peddling false and malicious anti-India propaganda”. As Pakistan elects a new civilian government, it becomes pertinent to look at its key political players and their stance on India. Nawaz Sharif Nawaz Sharif is highly likely to become Pakistan’s PM for a fourth term. The PML(N) leader, who returned to the country last October after four years in self-imposed exile abroad, is believed to have the Pakistan military’s blessings. Within weeks of his return, Sharif’s convictions were overturned. His lifetime ban from holding political office was removed, paving the way for his almost certain victory in the elections. Since he came back to Pakistan, the 74-year-old three-time PM has been making peace statements concerning India, saying he wants to improve ties with the neighbouring country. Last December, Sharif attacked the Pakistan military and said that India and the US are not to blame for Pakistan’s troubles, reported Hindustan Times (HT). [caption id=“attachment_13704632” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Sohail Ghuri, a truck art painter, applies the final touches to a portrait of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on wooden planks in the back of a truck at a workshop in Peshawar, Pakistan, 12 December 2023. Reuters File Photo[/caption] The former PM has a history of seeking rapprochement with India. His party manifesto has promised a ‘Message of Peace’ to India but with the condition that New Delhi reverses the scrapping of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. As per NDTV, Sharif has also recognised India’s global achievements, while calling for renewed diplomatic ties between the two countries. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has inherited a rich political legacy from his grandfather, ex-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and his mother – Benazir Bhutto, also a former premier. Bilawal’s father, Asif Ali Zardari, who served as Pakistan’s president is also in the fray. While the PPP is unlikely to bag a majority, its influence in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province gives it an edge in any coalition building in the future, according to NDTV. Bilawal, who was the foreign minister in the PML(N)-PPP coalition government led by Nawaz’s brother Shehbaz Sharif after the ouster of Imran Khan in April 2022, is PPP’s prime ministerial face. The Bhutto scion advocated normalising ties with India. However, he also adopted an aggressive stance on India during his tenure as the foreign minister. [caption id=“attachment_13704652” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is vying to become the next Pakistan PM. Reuters[/caption] Bilawal stoked a major controversy in December 2022 with his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US. Reacting to his statements, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had dubbed them an “uncivilised outburst”. ALSO READ: Pakistan’s 'Parivarvad': How dynastic politics dominates the country Imran Khan Despite a major crackdown on him, Khan and his PTI still enjoy popular support in the country. In an interview with the US-based think tank Atlantic Council last June, the former PM said there was a peace plan in the discussions with India in 2019 even after the abrogation of Article 370. However, it never materialised. In 2021, Khan who earlier favoured resuming limited trade ties with India took a U-turn within days. This happened despite the then Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa rooting for normalisation of ties between the two countries, as per The Wire report. India’s stance on Pakistan elections The Modi government’s foreign policy has been to make Pakistan “irrelevant” to India’s diplomatic agenda. “That means, whoever comes to power in Islamabad, India can continue to be insouciant about it while not being indifferent to the dictum of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that “we can change our friends but not our neighbours””, Jayanth Jacob, a foreign policy commentator, wrote for Moneycontrol. According to Indian Express, Pakistan’s continued support for terrorism remains a key concern for India. New Delhi has largely pursued a “doctrine of indifference” as Pakistan reels from political and economic instability. While Pakistan military’s influence in politics has always been known, New Delhi will focus on the army’s involvement in “selecting” the neighbouring country’s next PM. “India has dealt with Pakistan’s generals who took charge of the country before. But General (Asim) Munir’s quest for greater control may not be the movie we have seen before. To be sure, the dominant assumption in Delhi is that nothing ever changes in Pakistan. And that Pakistan’s generals will muddle along as they retain hold over Pakistan. Munir, however, is taking control amid the growing prospect that the old order in Pakistan is becoming unsustainable,", geopolitical expert C Raja Mohan was quoted as saying by Indian Express. India is also going to polls in just a few months and will have a new government by May. If PM Modi returns to power with a thumping mandate, it “could further complicate matters for Pakistan’s new government”, as per Reuters. However, there could be a thaw in relations if Nawaz Sharif becomes Pakistan’s PM. According to an HT report, the two countries might resume trade and traditional relations. In the case of Bhutto, New Delhi does not believe he has the “maturity to deal with India, considering his family has been anti-India since his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto decided to wage war against India”, the newspaper report added. It remains to be seen how the policies of Pakistan’s new government will impact the country’s strained relations with India. With inputs from agencies