Will He Bat For Peace?

Imran Khan has been supporting hardline Islamists like the Taliban. As PM, will he strive to normalise ties with India?

- Manish Kumar Jha

IMRAN KHAN had once said, “You contest elections to win. You don’t contest elections to be a good boy. I want to win.” After 22 years of toiling arduously, win he did. Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) or the Movement for Justice formed in 1996 and led by Imran Khan, did exactly what it was supposed to — open its innings from the garrisons of the Pakistan army.

The political makeover of the maverick in Pakistan politics is as staggeringly radical as his personal life. An election that was ostensibly nearrigged makes no difference in Pakistan, as polls there have had no real impact on the ground. The cricketer-turned-politician had been yearning to be the prime minister for two long decades. He would scarcely jeopardise his chance by overstepping the line set by the Pakistan army.

Nawaz Sharif and the independent stance he took in 2013 is a grim reminder of what a “daring outreach” to India can do to a Pakistan premier. Sharif paid his price in that long conflict with the Pakistan army.

Building up on the outreach initiated earlier, Prime Minister Modi spoke to Khan and congratulated him as the leader of the political party that had won the largest number of seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan in the recently concluded general elections. Modi said he hoped democracy would take deeper roots in Pakistan. A thaw in bilateral relations could be a harbinger of a spurt in Indo-Pak trade relations.