The elections in Pakistan are important not just for the country itself but also for India, which is their neighboring country. Dhananjay Tripathi a professor at the South Asian University in India’s capital, New Delhi teaches international studies to Young graduates. today he is leading an informal session with his students on India-Pakistan relations. A shared history with Decades of conflict and diplomatic negotiations has shaped the relationship between the two Asian neighbors. Pakistan national assembly elections are just around the corner. And while it will direct the course of the country’s political future India too will be keeping a keen eye on it.
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DELHI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DISCUSS PAKISTAN ELECTIONS
Professor Dhananjay thinks that ensuring free and fair elections in Pakistan will be challenging, especially considering the recent imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Pakistan’s history of a military coup. “Nawaz Sharif has a lot of charges against him. He is being brought back and all the charges are being dropped so someone is doing this. Uh, I am sure it’s a Pakistani army that is behind this, so a lot of us believe that Nawaz Sharif is going to be the next prime minister.”
JNUSU ELECTIONS TO BE HELD AFTER BEING DELAYED FOR PAST FOUR YEARS
But from his students, there is also a cautious sense of hope as we all know that there are challenges in Pakistan in some aspects of internal affairs as well as external Affairs. According to his students, Pakistan is in a tough position in terms of security and terms of economics. So the future election is a good point to come out of this problem, and they think that Pakistan should improve its relationship with India.
INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS AFTER PAKISTAN ELECTIONS
The diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan have been strained for the past few years, especially since 2019, when Pakistan expelled the Indian envoy after India decided to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. The unresolved status of the divided Kashmir region is at the heart of the rivalry between India and Pakistan, with the 2 nations having fought several wars over it. “They would prefer a strong democratic government in Pakistan. That can be engaged with India as well. That can open diplomatic dialogues with India.” said Professor Dhananjay. But Pakistan’s domestic turmoil could potentially empower the hard-line Voices within India as the country prepares for its national elections.
