So, is Nawaz Sharif Pakistan’s best chance to improve ties with India? Will Nawaz Sharif be able to fix ties with India?

by Shishir Gupta

New Delhi: Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has lashed out at the Pakistan military and said that India and the U.S. are not to blame for the miserable condition of the country. The three-time prime minister, who is eying his fourth term, slammed the judges for legitimising military dictators. Sharif’s latest statement comes after he earlier said that he wants to improve ties with India. So, is Nawaz Sharif Pakistan’s best chance to improve ties with India? Will Nawaz Sharif be able to fix ties with India if he wins elections in Pakistan or will the military foil his plans again?

Since Nawaz Sharif came back from exile, he has been making peace statements. At least he has made three such statements saying that why Pakistan Army, Pakistan Supreme Court and Pakistan's politicians like Imran Khan have actually done Pakistan harm rather than India, US and even Afghanistan.

These statements are important because Nawaz Sharif has a credible track record of seeking rapprochement with India. He tried in 1999. He was ousted by Parvez Mussharaf. He tried in 2015. Again he was ousted by jihadists. He has had his own share of problems with the Pakistan Supreme Court and Pakistan Army.

In 1993, it was the president Ghulam Shah Khan who threw him out. He was restored by the Pakistan Supreme Court. In 1999, he was thrown out by Pervez Mussharraf. In 2017, it was the Supreme Court that threw out Nawaz Sharif on the flimsiest of charges. The statement is a reflection of truth.

Right now, the inflation in Pakistan is 29.8 percent. Pakistan's exchange rate against the US dollar is touching triple century. Pakistan has a foreign reserve of only 9.9 billion dollars. At this moment, the Pakistan prime minister is talking about fighting 300 wars with India. At least Nawaz Sharif is making sense; the rest of them are delusional.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a soft corner for Nawaz Sharif. The latter had come for his swearing-in ceremony. The next year, PM Modi made a huge effort of landing at Lahore to attend a family wedding. He definitely has credibility and has a proven record in India, where India could actually take chances with Pakistan.

If Nawaz Sharif comes to power... I am saying it because the Pakistani generals, the Pakistani media and the Pakistani Supreme Court have their own agendas. But if he were to come to power, there is a possibility that India might resume trade, might resume traditional ties. These are not going to be big ticket items, but some sort of normalcy could be restored.

India thinks of jailed Imran Khan as an unscrupulous person who can swing either way. They find Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as not having the maturity to deal with India, considering his family has been anti-India since his grand-father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto decided to wage war against India.