According to Sehgal, the main issue complicating such talks is India’s accusatory rhetoric against Pakistan. “Indian leaders and the media are prone to whipping up a frenzy of anti-Pakistan feelings at short notice,” Sehgal says. “Successfully combining soft power with hard power, India has cleverly converted the freedom fight in Kashmir into ‘terrorism’ and the ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) committed by them are labeled as engineered by Pakistan.”

Charging that Pakistan is following a policy of appeasement, he warns that this will not help resolve the country’s longstanding disputes with India. “There is no substitute to peace with India but not at the cost of our self-respect and independence as a nation,” he writes. “History has shown that taken as a sign of weakness, appeasement has no future.”

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Click here to read an opposing view from EWI Board Member Kanwal Sibal.