Bottomline | Hand of Peace

Pravin Sawhney

The Indian assessment on the recent Kartarpur ceremony has been summed up by a journalist who has visited Pakistan over decades. In his opinion, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s intentions are unclear and don’t matter. This would be correct if we read only the politics behind the ceremony and ignore the muscle power behind Khan’s utterances for peace with India. But, when assessing Pakistan’s political intentions, the muscle power and the views of the institution that wields it — the Pakistan Army — matters.

There is little argument that the present dispensation in Pakistan is unique. Imran Khan, truth be told, owes and holds his office at the pleasure of his army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Now, it was Bajwa who — in the presence of his supposed boss, Imran Khan — first broke the news on the Kartarpur corridor to the Indian minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu, which led to the hug between the two. The pertinent issue was that Bajwa took that initiative because he wants peace with India. Instead of thinking deeply on this dev