Relations between Pakistan and India worsened after the nuclear-armed neighbors did not maintain the tradition of exchanging formal greetings on their respective Independence Day for the first time in peacetime, JEE News reported on Wednesday.
Pakistan celebrated its 77th Independence Day on August 14, while India celebrated its Independence Day a day later.
August 14 was Shahbaz Sharif’s last day as Prime Minister. The outgoing government did not receive a congratulatory message from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On the same day, Anwarul Haq Kakar was sworn in as the eighth Caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan. They responded to this gesture and chose not to send greetings to India on its Independence Day.
Another diplomatic courtesy was also missed by the Indian Prime Minister – saluting the Head of Government who takes office.
Interim Prime Minister Kakar is on his third day in government today and there is still no message from New Delhi.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MOFA) did not comment on the new ‘trends’ in the diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been soured by the current Indian leadership.
However, the Foreign Office has confirmed that Pakistan and India did not exchange greetings on the occasion of Independence Day.
Relations between the two countries had deteriorated mainly due to the persistent belligerent attitude of India’s leadership, but had worsened since Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power nine years ago. .
Modi sabotaged the SAARC summit that was supposed to be held in Pakistan in November 2016. India also continued to promote terrorist activities on the soil of Pakistan. Indian spy and terrorist Kulbhushan Jadhav is a clear evidence of India’s interventionist role in Pakistan. Jadhav was caught red-handed as an Indian spy in Pakistan.
In August 2019, New Delhi annexed Occupied Kashmir and integrated it into the Indian Union, ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir as an internationally recognized disputed territory between Pakistan and India.
The dispute is still pending on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. In February 2019, India launched an offensive on Pakistani soil but Pakistan’s armed forces shot down infiltrating Indian warplanes and captured an Indian pilot, Abhinadan Varthaman.
Pakistan cut diplomatic ties with India in the wake of the 2019 events, and the two countries have since expelled each other’s ambassadors in Islamabad and New Delhi in charge of maintaining their respective missions. D has handled affairs. Both countries have also reduced the number of diplomatic staff.
Pakistan recently named Aizaz Khan as its charge d’affaires at the New Delhi High Commission after Salman Sharif’s return to Islamabad. India is also reportedly changing its charge d’affaires as Apoorva Srivastava could replace Suresh Kumar who was posted in Islamabad in December 2020.
The Indian High Commission in Islamabad organized a function to mark its Independence Day on Tuesday morning, but no Pakistani guests were invited.
The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi also organized a limited reception, but the Indian government barred Kashmiri leaders from attending.
Diplomatic observers believe that Modi’s BJP will contest elections on an anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim agenda in next year’s Indian general elections. Amidst all this, there is currently little room for improvement in relations – at least until the elections in India.
