Ties with India could improve after Lok Sabha 2024 polls, says Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said the India-Pakistan relationship may improve after the conclusion of Indian general elections.

India is currently going through the parliamentary elections cycle. The voting will be held in seven phases starting April 19 and will conclude on June 1. The counting of votes will take place on June 4 and results are expected the same day.

Speaking to reporters outside Pakistan’s parliament, Asif said that the India-Pakistan relationship has its “own background”.

The India-Pakistan relations have been cold for years now, primarily over the issue of Pakistan-based terrorism directed at India and Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir. The Narendra Modi government has maintained that terrorism and talks cannot go on together.

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Asif’s statement comes at a time when Pakistan is facing a slew of security and political challenges amid strained ties with most neighbours. While Pakistan has had a strained relationship with India since 1947, relations with Iran and Afghanistan have also been strained lately. While Iran and Pakistan have conducted airstrikes in each-other’s territories, the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship has also been tense as Afghanistan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been carrying out deadly attacks across Pakistan for over a year now and it has affected ties with the country’s Taliban rulers.

In recent times, Asif is the second Pakistani leader to comment on ties with India. Last month, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his government would seriously consider restoring trade ties with India.

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The India-Pakistan trade ties have been cold since 2019. In February 2019, the India-Pakistan relationship nosedived after the Pulwama terrorist attack which the Modi government blamed on Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), a Pakistan-based terrorist group. India responded with an airstrike at a JeM facility in Pakistan and Pakistan retaliated with an aerial raid in Jammu and Kashmir. Then, in August 2019, the Modi government abrogated Article 370 and scrapped J&K’s special status.

After Dar’s comment, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) clarified that there had been no change in Pakistan’s trade policy towards India. FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, “Pakistan-India trade relations have been non-existent since 2019 when India took illegal steps in the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir…There is no change in Pakistan’s position on it.”

While Pakistani leaders have repeatedly signaled the intent to improve ties with India, they have also broadly maintained their opposition to the abrogation of Article 370.

Meanwhile, the Modi government has stated that any India-Pakistan dialogue will now only be on the Kashmir issue. In August 2019, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “Now, if talks are held, they will only be held on the issue of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. There will be no talks on any other issue.”

Singh further said, “What do they have to talk about? What is the topic? Why should there be talks? There will be a dialogue with Pakistan only after it ends support for terrorism. If Pakistan doesn’t do this, there is no reason for holding the talks.”