The appointment of a new army chief in Pakistan has ramifications for India. So when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif selected General Qamar Javed Bajwa to replace General Raheel Sharif the question in New Delhi was the obvious one: how will it change matters for India? Especially at a time when ties are at a low with both sides engaging in a mortar war that has claimed lives on either sides of the border.
General Raheel stepped down in one of the smoothest transfers of power in Pakistan. It might be recalled that the last time Nawaz Sharif attempted to change a General he was ousted in a coup. Pakistan is wracked by terrorism, something of its own creation, and General Raheel was hailed as a hero by the media for his commitment to attacking terrorism. His offensive in the north-west tribal areas and Karachi was an extension of his predecessor’s strategy. General Bajwa is not likely to deviate from this trajectory, more so because he is known to harbor the belief that terrorism is a greater threat to Pakistan than India.
In Pakistan the balance between the civilian government and the military is tilted in favour of the armed forces and General Bajwa does not favour intervention in civilian affairs. But since the military has sway over foreign policy, two areas that he will have to focus on is India and Afghanistan, which is still a messy place. Pakistan’s Afghan policy is seen through the prism of India, which has also cultivated interests there. Rawalpindi has always pursued a policy to ensure a friendly government in Kabul. Presently, ties are strained and the new general might have to balance its Afghan policy with its ties to India and the US which also wants to see a stable Afghanistan which will not harbor terrorist organisations.
A big question mark now hangs over the kind of policy that the new general will pursue vis-Ã -vis India. Pakistan is a country that still believes that one man’s terrorist is another man’s revolutionary. Hence, it finds itself fighting terrorists and nurturing them, both at the same time. Will General Bajwa change this dual approach which is not only tearing Pakistan apart but also responsible for instability in the region?
Pakistan has meshed terrorism as part of its foreign policy and is attempting to bleed India from a thousand cuts. Surgical strikes by India have thrown in an element of uncertainty and questions are being asked in Pakistan if the policy of supporting the Lashkar-e-Tayaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed which are based in Punjab, is practical. General Bajwa might choose to continue with the existing policy but it is difficult to say if he will reign in these two terrorist organisations because that would signal a complete change in the military’s approach to India and perhaps, bring peace to the region. New Delhi needs to wait, watch and give the new General a chance.
