Normalization of Pak - India Relations

Few would disagree that the last 30 years of India-Pakistan relations have been a volatile mix of active confrontation and constrained hostility. Diplomatic overtures, though cautious, have been repeatedly shattered by acts of terrorism like Mumbai (2008), Pathankot (2016) and Pulwama (2019) which brought pain to countless families and derailed any hope of sustained engagement. Although India blames Pakistan for any terrorist attack it faces, it is also true that India has always rejected Pakistan's sincere offers to investigate such gruesome incidents jointly even from the platform of the United Nations. India has not earnestly engaged in dialogue over the core issue of Kashmir; it has repeatedly conflated the Kashmiri people's aspirations with terrorism. This move has too often served as a convenient excuse to sideline the legitimate demand for self-determination in the region.

The latest episode in topsy-turvy relations between India and Pakistan came in February 2019 when both nations recalled their high commissioners, starting the longest sustained diplomatic freeze in the history of India–Pakistan relations, surpassing even the chill that followed the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh. At that time, despite a full-scale conflict and territorial redrawing, formal diplomatic relations were restored within four years. By contrast, the 2019 break has persisted for over seven years, marking an unprecedented stretch without envoys or official dialogue.

Previously, following the 1965 conflict, diplomatic ties were quickly normalized through the Tashkent Agreement of 1966. Even during the 1999 Kargil War and the 2001–2002 military standoff, when troops were mobilized along the border, both nations kept their ambassadors in place and lines of communication open.