Indo–Pak Bilateral Relations: Why India may not trust Imran Khan

On July 25, Pakistan democratically elected PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf) leader Imran Khan as the new Prime Minister. As soon as he completed his swearing in ceremony, world leaders took to their Twitter accounts to congratulate him for being the 22^nd Prime Minister of Pakistan. Even our PM, Narendra Modi congratulated Khan over the phone, expressing the need of bilateral relationship between the nations.

India has the experience of dealing with both PML-N and PPP governments. While PML-N was the leading political party in the Islamic Republic elections, PPP under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (Son of Former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari) was in a non-significant force during the elections.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan emerged victorious in Pakistan. It is said he is in the good books of the Pakistan Army. Khan’s PTI is the only party that has openly supported the idea of opening channels of dialogue with jihadi outfits in Pakistan. His emphasis on communication with fundamentalist and radical groups has been so much so that his opponents in Pakistan have nicknamed him as ‘Taliban Khan’.

The lane going towards Pakistan National Assembly elections has witnessed a clampdown on the political workers allied to PML-N and PPP. Under the concierge régime of Nasirul Mulk, the Pakistan Army and ISI seems like running an administration of the country. Restriction on the two biggest political parties has been so powerful that they have even been denied free media space for their election campaigns.

There are speculations that if Pakistan Army-backed PTI of Imran Khan ever fails to secure majority in the upper house, candidates from radical parties may join hands with him in the future to keep PML-N out of power. Such a coalition government in Pakistan is guaranteed to pose a threat to any exertions for stabilization of relationship with India.