SEAnews 2014-12-12 ArtNo.45364

【Srinagar-New Delhi】India-Pakistan and Hindu-Muslim are basically one complex of issues. That there is a symbiotic relationship between the three becomes apparent every now and then. But there is, at policy levels, an aversion to see the glaring reality.

　Foreign secretary level talks in Islamabad were cancelled because the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi, Abdul Basit, consulted Kashmiri separatist leaders. The chill was carried over to Kathmandu. Here was the umpteenth instance of Kashmir casting a long shadow on India-Pakistan relations. Is SAARC a realizable promise without this key triangle being resolved?
　　　　　　　－Omission－
　Communal rhetoric has been held back in the campaign so far. Even though RSS think tanks have been studying article 370 and how the state can be freed from it, the issue has not become part of the BJP's campaign. Is the powder being kept dry for the last phase of voting in Jammu where the Muslim vote is ineffective?
If the BJP falls short of 44 seats, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will be the probable front runner. But the Peoples Democratic Party may not be able to cross the halfway mark. Who will the Mufti then align with? A weakened Congress, unlikely to be anywhere near power in the foreseeable future, is hardly an attractive partner. Omar Abdullah's National Conference is even less attractive. A political opening for both the Mufti and Modi may open up. The critical triangle sketched at the opening of this piece may then require a deep, steady gaze by both.

【News source】

Kashmir outcome may provide Mufti, Modi with new opening

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