Vir Sanghvi: Peace with Pakistan is implausible

Vir Sanghvi summarized:

The Manmohan Singh doctrine is that a solution with Pakistan consists of soft borders, regional cooperation and an agenda for prosperity.

However, the major factors behind Pakistani policy all work against this formulation.

Pakistan has lost control of its terrorists. They cannot secure Karachi or Lahore, how can they prevent attacks on Mumbai. Nor do they see any gain in curbing attacks on India. Neither the capability nor the will is there. "...an embattled Pakistani state has nothing to gain by cracking down on those who attack India. On the contrary, it risks alienating its own people by appearing to let down the ‘freedom fighters’ and ‘poor Indian Muslims who are fighting for justice’."

The terrorists threaten the US and its mission in Afghanistan. "The Pakistanis have told the Americans that they would like to help but domestic public opinion is deeply hostile to America. The only way they can mollify their own people is if they can say that Washington is on Pakistan’s side against India, that it will help secure Kashmiri freedom, etc. Naturally, the US cannot do all of this. But it can put pressure on India to talk to Pakistan (so that the Pakistanis can claim we blinked). That is exactly what the Americans are now doing..... We are just being used by the Americans and the Pakistanis and our genuine desire for peace is being exploited."

None of soft borders, regional cooperation and prosperity is possible as long as the jihadi mindset prevails in Pakistan.