India and Pakistan are at it again — and the immediate cause remains a country in the West. Coinciding with US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir where he made a statement that many see as affirming India’s territorial integrity, a separate spate of tit-for-tat diplomacy has been playing out between the neighbours. In Islamabad’s removal of parking poles from the Indian High Commission and New Delhi’s reciprocal act of removing the queueing lines outside the Pakistani High
India and Pakistan are at it again — and the immediate cause remains a country in the West. Coinciding with US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir where he made a statement that many see as affirming India’s territorial integrity, a separate spate of tit-for-tat diplomacy has been playing out between the neighbours. In Islamabad’s removal of parking poles from the Indian High Commission and New Delhi’s reciprocal act of removing the queueing lines outside the Pakistani High Commission, what is being ignored is the import of Gor’s statement per se.
To begin with, rather than calling J&K an integral part of India, the US ambassador chose to designate the region as “an important part”. This taxonomical distinction ought to be sobering for both sides. Gor has merely continued the US habit of keeping the neighbours vying for the White House’s unambiguous support on their respective positions on the Kashmir issue. In choosing to visit the Union Territory and making encouraging statements about tourism at a time when New Delhi is less than pleased about Islamabad’s strengthening rapport in Washington DC, Gor may be making an attempt to assuage India’s concerns. Additionally, an obfuscation of tensions surrounding the ongoing trade issues and sanctions between India and the US may also be on the agenda. Predictably, Pakistan lodged a “strong demarche” over what it calls the “factually incorrect” statement of Gor. While Pakistan’s reaction may bolster the weight of Gor’s words, it’s important to see them for what they actually achieve. In policy terms, almost nothing changes. Even the faith in the signalled India-US bonhomie may turn out to be short-lived, given the unpredictability of US foreign policy in general and Donald Trump in particular.
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