Two Indian geopolitical experts have opined that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's recent statement on holding peace talks with India lacks intent and seriousness.
Earlier this week, the Pakistan premier stated that he was interested in discussing "serious matters" with New Delhi.
However, his statement was disregarded in some circles in India, with the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) sticking to its stand that "talks and terror" can't go hand-in-hand.
"India's clear and consistent position on this is well-known. We desire normal neighborly relations with all our neighbors, including Pakistan. For this, an environment free of terror and hostility is imperative," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in his weekly media briefing on Thursday.
Terror and Talks Can't Go Together
Delhi has accused Islamabad of allegedly giving sanctuary to terrorist groups including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)* and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)*, both accused of carrying out multiple attacks on India's security forces and establishments.
Indian investigators found a link between the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terrors attacks and LeT, which left 166 people dead and hundreds of others injured.
In this light, Sushant Sareen, a senior fellow at India's premier think tank, Observer Research Foundation, said that whatever Sharif said in Karachi city should not be taken with any kind of seriousness.
He explained that the Pakistani PM was addressing a function of international investors and in the course of that, he started talking about India.
"It was basically to lure the investors [with], 'look, we don't have any issues with India, and we are ready to talk with the neighboring country'," Sareen told Sputnik India on Friday.
Kashmir Issue Resolved for India
"I think the Kashmir issue has been solved. The only question is whether Pakistan will reconcile to the solution that has come. Otherwise, the Kashmir issue, the way it is for the last 75 years territorially, more or less has been resolved. We can stake a claim over the territory held by Pakistan but there is very little we can do to get it back without fighting a war, which I don't think anybody is really interested in," he expressed.
Criticizing the alleged Pakistani efforts to take over Kashmir from India through terrorist proxies and military campaigns, Sareen argued that Islamabad has tried every trick in its book, but failed miserably.
"Pakistan has tried war, it tried terrorism, it tried everything that it had in its arsenal and nothing worked," he pointed out.
In Sareen's opinion, after the events of August 5, 2019, when Delhi revoked Kashmir's semi-autonomous status, paving the way for the introduction of federal laws in the region, the issue has been settled.
"The question is whether Pakistan understands the solution that has already come or it continues on the same old path, it is as simple as that," Sareen summed up.
The government of India has consistently pointed out the Pakistan's administration of a part of the Kashmir region, and terms it "Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK)". On a number of occasions, the Indian government has reiterated its stance, demanding "Pakistan should vacate Kashmir".
India Wants Pakistan to Fix 'Abnormalities' Before Talks
Sareen supposed that there were plenty of "abnormalities in Pakistan" that New Delhi would want Islamabad to first fix before we start talking.
The pundit observed that when Sharif made a similar proposal before, Pakistan's Foreign Office refuted his statement the following day.
Sareen underlined that normalization was a good thing to happen between neighbors. But for that one needs normal neighbors.
Every time when there has been attempt to initiate a move toward normalization, it has suffered a setback, he noted.
Despite the breakdown in talks between the two warring nations, Sareen reckons that the Kashmir issue has been solved, at least from India's viewpoint.
Sharif's Words Mere Narrative For Domestic Audience
On the other hand, ex-Indian diplomat and strategic affairs expert Anil Trigunayat termed Sharif's remarks as mere narrative for the domestic audience and being devoid of any kind of serious intent.
According to him, Pakistan has been going through a terrible economic and financial crisis and political turbulence which compels it to sugarcoat its narrative, but these are mere statements without intent if one were to look at it from their zero-sum game as far as India is concerned.
"We have also seen various leaders and political and economic experts in Pakistan praising India's achievements and leadership. Hence common sense says that they should make genuine overtures and address India's concerns for any normalization to take place," Trigunayat said.
The former Indian envoy to Russia and Bangladesh expressed that the entire Kashmir region is an integral part of India. Despite that, New Delhi had agreed to discuss bilaterally.
"Pakistan, despite agreements and commitment, continues to internationalize the Kashmir issue to acquire some Islamic legitimacy which is totally misplaced. Since Islamabad is not serious and honest, I doubt that any tangible progress can be made," Trigunayat concluded.
*terror organizations banned in Russia, India and other states