The sarcastic comments critics make need to be scrutinized by having a close look at some of the developments that have taken place since the assumption of power by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the presence of the prime minister on March 1.

It was described as a positive beginning when, after none of the mainstream political parties could secure absolute majority in the elections, PDP and BJP representing conflicting ideologies decided to form their maiden coalition government. Soon after his swearing in as chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had admitted that coming together of PDP and BJP was like the meeting of “the North Pole and the South Pole” and that “the history has given us a chance to work for bringing peace and development in the state”.

But it did not take long for the North Pole and the South Pole to show signs of drift on some of the controversial issues. The first such issue was when within hours of taking oath, Chief Minister, to the annoyance of BJP, credited Hurriyat and militant outfits with creating conducive atmosphere for holding Assembly elections. It was followed by BJP’s bastion Jammu observing unprecedented shutdown over shifting of AIIMS to Kashmir without BJP support and later observing bandh over denial of AIIMS to Jammu causing embarrassment to the BJP. The Centre had to intervene to resolve the issue.

In the past few months there has been slide in the state’s political and security environment. Reflecting the trend at the national level where the utterances and actions of the Hindutva hardliners have communally polarized the nation, the polarization between the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-majority Jammu region has further deepened.

Even as the army has been able to considerably check infiltrations from across the border, there has also been a spurt in the number of Valley youths joining militants ranks. Commenting on the worrisome trend of increasing number of the Valley youths joining militancy in Kashmir, Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar said “Some youths have chosen the wrong path and joined militant ranks. We tried our best to motivate young blood to shun the path of violence”.

The Kashmir problem on which India and Pakistan have fought wars can only be settled through bilateral talks. While announcing Rs.80,000crore flood relief package during his visit to Srinagar on November 7, Modi invoked former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s slogan of “Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat (democracy) and Insaniyat” for solving the Kashmir tangle, he related it to development.

Reacting to Modi’s declaration for granting Rs.80,000crore package, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said “25 years of militancy were not for seeking economic packages. Kashmiri people protest and come onto the streets to seek a political resolution of the Kashmir issue”. He was not wrong.

The first attempt made last year to hold a high-level bilateral meeting between India and Pakistan for discussing the issues, including Kashmir, proved abortive as New Delhi cancelled the meeting rejecting the Pakistan’s move to hold consultations with the invited Kashmiri separatists a day prior to the bilateral talks as they had been doing in the past. The event marked the end of the resumed attempts to hold talks for finding ways to normalize the relations between the two countries.

The failure to hold bilateral talks to discuss a way out for resolving the issues confronting the two neighbours, needs to be seen in the backdrop of two similar attempts made by Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh during 1999 and 2007 which had proved abortive.

During his historic bus journey to Lahore in February 1999 the “Lahore Declaration” was signed by Vajpayee and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif. In their one-on-one meeting they also committed to each other “to break the deadlock on Kashmir and resolve the dispute –once and for all”. But the attempt did not fructify due to Pervez Musharraf’s Kargil misadventure which had also brought the two neighbours face to face.”

In 2007, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s dictator Pervez Musharraf finalized a four-point formula to resolve the Kashmir problem. According to Pakistan’s former foreign minister Khurshid Mohamad Kasuri, when the agreement neared finalization early in 2007, the process was overtaken by the rapid political developments in Pakistan that set off Musharraf’s downfall.

The issue of resolving India-Pakistan problems needs to be seen in the backdrop of insistence by Islamabad that Kashmir should be a priority item of the bilateral agenda while New Delhi wants the bilateral talks to be centered on Pakistan’s sponsorship of terrorism. On assuming power both Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif had promised that Pakistan’s soil would never be allowed for carrying out terrorist activities in other countries. But Pakistan has not only failed to honour its commitment but has also suffered with the homegrown terrorists carrying out terror attacks in their own country.

Terrorism has now become global menace with the Syria-Iraq having become as Islamic State’s (IS) terror umbrella threatening to expand their violent activities worldwide. In Kashmir, IS black flag carrying supporters are already visible in demonstrations held by separatists.

On December 3, Indian media reported the IS’s new “Black flags manifesto” vowing to expand its fight to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and (several other countries). The manifesto states that “President (!) Narendra Modi is a right-wing Hindu nationalist who worships weapons and is preparing his people for a future war against Muslims”.

It is in the context of the IS’s threat to expand its terror activities in India and Pakistan that lends importance for the two neighbours to resolve their bilateral issues including Kashmir and terror and jointly face the IS threats.

On assuming prime ministership, Modi had declared “neighbourhood first” as his policy.” It is time he works for achieving the objective by normalizing India’s relations not only with Pakistan but also with Nepal. (IPA Service)