Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has inherited a nation of complexities. Most immediately, he must help the economy recover and guarantee law and order for his people. This requires giving attention both to improving relations with India as also engaging differently with the Pakistani army, its intelligence agencies and the Pakistan-based and sponsored terrorist groups.
How will Sharif balance the competing interests and steer his country out of its troubles and international pariah status? How will he engage with his two most important neighbours, India and Afghanistan – both of which have a strained relationship with Islamabad – now and after the U.S. military withdrawal in 2014?
The competition above will surely be intensified by the upcoming 2014 elections in India and our highly fractured domestic policy. Can our actions be decisive and cohesive enough to safeguard and promote our interests? Will Sharif be able to steer his country out of its troubles and into a semblance of normalcy? Can he make Afghanistan an economic partner instead of a geostrategic pawn?
On September 11, Gateway House hosted Ambassador G. Parthasarathy, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, in conversation with Rajeev Dubey, Member of the Group Executive Board and President, Group HR, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., to discuss ‘Afghanistan-Pakistan: Locus of terrorism or economic opportunity.’
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