[The Diplomat] Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to leaders of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries to attend his swearing-in ceremony has been termed a "foreign policy masterstroke." The highlight was arguably Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's attendance, despite a delay in accepting the invitation.Modi's BJP party has in the past criticized the ex-UPA government's Pakistan policy as too soft, and had vowed in the run-up to elections to take a tough stance against Pakistan. However, Indian leaders must recognize the psychological underpinnings of the Pakistani state, which is central to taming the famously fractious relationship.
Pakistan's military has built the identity of the Pakistani state in opposition to India, and this perpetuation and sustainment of the Indian threat is what has made the Pakistan Army the most powerful and omnipresent institution in its polity. This siege mentality has legitimized its rule in the eyes of ordinary Pakistanis and enabled it to extract the exorbitant funding and revenues that it does, consequently derailing pro-democracy forces and civil society. The military's unprecedented monopoly over Pakistani politics, and the inflated revenue that the myth of the Indian threat derives explains the lack of incentive for the army to better relations with India.
While a tough line on Pakistan may have been appropriate for New Delhi a few years ago, in recent years the state of affairs seems to have somewhat altered. There is a growing realization in Pakistan that India no longer poses the largest threat to the country, and in this realization lies Pakistan's greatest hope of becoming a "normal" country, and not the dysfunctional security state that it currently is. The biggest security risks are those stemming from within the country, and not from external sources like India, a realization that frames the military as part of the problem, rather than the solution. Perhaps nothing can better capture Pakistan's miscalculations and militancy culture than Mohsin Hamid's catchphrase, "To fight India, we fought ourselves."
The Army itself is starting to see the light; evident in its new doctrine's shift in threat assessment, as militant groups they once propelled turn against the state and attack its security apparatuses. According to acclaimed Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid, "The anti-India rhetoric that has been part of Pakistan's entire make-up for over 50 years has now dramatically altered even within the army, which recognizes that we have to deal with the Taliban threat." Indeed, even Pakistan's feared Inter-Services Intelligence has acknowledged that homegrown militants have surpassed India as Pakistan's greatest threat.
Additionally, there is a growing perception that engaging with India is an opportunity to resuscitate Pakistan's stagnant economy, as evident in Islamabad's recent overtures to New Delhi on liberalized trade deals, as well as its three-year economic reform agenda program with the IMF that emphasizes trade ties with India.
India-Pakistan relations are at a pivotal point in history. As India experiences a change of guard in New Delhi, the first Pakistan government to experience a transfer of power from one civilian regime to another is marking a year in office. The timing is good for the bilateral relationship to move beyond conventional differences, and capitalize on the enormous economic potential of the relationship. India must adopt a constructive and robust, rather than belligerent and reckless, approach to Pakistan, especially in light of this progressive narrative change in internal Pakistani politics. It must be innovative in "normalizing" its relations with Pakistan and review other tactics, including collaborative attempts with other states to diplomatically pressure and stabilize Pakistan, support for civilian structures and accelerated economic engagement. Under the leadership of an assertive and dynamic Modi, India is now well positioned to take these steps.