Binoo Joshi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi   made a much-awaited congratulatory  call to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf   Chairperson Imran Khan  who emerged  as  top in the race in the recently held   elections in  Pakistan  with a profound message of peace in the neighborhood.

Modi’s congratulatory  call  was awaited  ever since the Pakistan election results had established the unassailable lead of Imran Khan’s PTI  in the polls  held on July 25 . Nothing  more is important for the peoples of the two countries than the kind of relationship their leaders  foster for them.

From the Indian side ,  two sentences of Prime Minister  as  tweeted by the Foreign Office spokesman  Raveesh Kumar,  hold unique significance .

But, let it be said  that Modi’s call to PTI  chairperson on his victory  in itself is more than the customary  congratulatory calls made on such  occasions , especially after the results  choose  a particular leader to choose the country.  In this  context, it is clear that Imran is  the  leader who  has been chosen by the electorate  Imran has also declared now that he would be  taking oath as Prime  Minister on August 11 .

So Modi chose the moment when it was clear that Imran Khan would be the   Prime Minister  of Pakistan . On Monday afternoon  Imran declared the date of his ascending to the aspired position , which he must have  done only after consulting the coalition partners and the army  that had backed him to get him  this slot . The same evening Modi congratulated him on his victory .

Modi  waited for  the confirmation of the political credibility of Imran Khan to lead Pakistan and only after that he placed the call , which  made it clear that  he wants to see the other side on the firm footing before he unveils his message  of peace and stability.

Imran had listed Kashmir as a “ core issue”  between the two countries during the course of his July 26th victory speech . Modi ‘s call did not mention all this, but it did underline the fact that there was a need  for Pakistan to deepen its roots of democracy. And when Modi  unveiled his vision of peace in the entire neighbourhood, he was clearly placing riders on Pakistan’s would be Prime Minister to  set his own house in order and stop troubling the neighbours  and the peace would come as a natural consequence.

The Indian Prime Minister has already walked several miles to cover the distance of trust building in trust deficit atmosphere. In fact, he burnt his fingers, too,  politically and diplomatically when his peace overtures  in an unorthodox manner were responded with terror attacks  by terrorists sponsored  by Pakistani establishment

All this needs to change and it must change the  peace has to walk the talk.