PM Modi diplomacy has isolated Pakistan

In the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second visit to Afghanistan and the inauguration of the Salma Dam in Herat there, the assessment in South Block is that India has succeeded in getting the Afghan government out of the Pakistani orbit of influence, forging what is seen as an emerging Indo-Afghan-Iranian axis and is all set to further strengthen its already-close ties with the United States. Mr Modi’s whirlwind diplomacy has caused jitters in Islamabad and has further isolated Pakistan which now has only China as its main backer, the government sources said. The sources further said Afghanistan appears to have seen through Pakistan’s sinister gameplan of continuing to promote the Afghan Taliban and exporting terrorism.

On Sunday, India also thanked Afghanistan for conferring the country’s highest civilian honour — the Amir Amanullah Khan award — on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit there. “It’s a matter of great honour for India that the Indian Prime Minister has been conferred with the highest ever civilian award by the Afghan government. It is an honour not only for India’s Prime Minister, but for the whole country for which we are grateful to the government of Afghanistan,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said.

India’s serious push for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and China’s attempts to block it has also exposed the Beijing-Islamabad nexus globally. Observers feel that while India is seen globally now as a de-facto US ally, the gains of being on the right side of the world’s sole superpower will work towards New Delhi’s advantage.

The recent visit to Iran, on which western sanctions were recently lifted, and the Chabahar agreement appears to have cemented what is being seen as an emerging and formidable India-Iran-Afghanistan axis and the presence of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Tehran during PM Modi’s recent visit to Tehran has strengthened that belief.

No wonder then that the signs of the Indo-Afghan strengthening of friendship were seen as PM Modi and President Ghani clutched each other’s hands, during the inauguration of the Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam in Herat, and held it high in announcement of the emerging partnership that has shaken Islamabad. As PM Modi himself declared just before his Saturday’s visit, “It is symbol of our friendship and would usher in hope, light up homes, nourish the fertile fields of Herat and bring prosperity to the people of the region.”

But it is Mr Modi’s forthcoming fourth visit to the United States in less than two years that has sent clear signals to Islamabad. The government sources in New Delhi told this newspaper that the recent drone attacks on Pakistani soil by the US and New Delhi moving closer to Washington has unnerved the Pakistan Army. As New Delhi itself declared recently, “The India-US bilateral strategic partnership has developed strongly, particularly during the last two years under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and President Obama. The main objective of the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister would be to consolidate the progress made in diverse areas such as economy, energy, environment, defence and security, and to intensify cooperation for the future.”

PM Modi’s two-day visit to the US on Monday and Tuesday and his forthcoming address to the joint session of the US Congress has apparently convinced the Generals in Rawalpindi that Islamabad can only turn to its fair-weather friend Beijing. Observers point out that with Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif virtually rendered ineffective following his open heart surgery and health problems, the frost in Indo-Pak ties is set to intensify with little hope for resumption of the bilateral comprehensive dialogue process in the near future.