Relations With India Could Improve After Elections: Pak Defence Minister Khawaja Asif

Defence minister Khawaja Asif expressed hope that bilateral ties between India and Pakistan could improve once Indian elections end. According to a report by Geo.TV, the Pakistan defence minister said he hopes that ties with India will improve after the nation “comes out of its election phase”.

“Our relations with India could be improved after elections there. (Our relationship) have (their) own background,” Asif was quoted as saying by the news outlet.

Asif’s comments come at a time when Pakistan is struggling to maintain its bilateral relations with its neighbours Iran, Afghanistan and China. Pakistan-Iran relations took a hit when Iran conducted airstrikes in Pakistan as part of a counter terrorism operation, leading Pakistan to retaliate with its own airstrikes earlier this year.

Pakistan-Afghanistan ties are going through a turbulent period due to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) aka Pakistan Taliban, with Islamabad accusing Taliban of not doing enough to rein in the terror group which has launched several attacks on Pakistan since the end of the ceasefire treaty and upped the frequency following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

Pakistan-Afghanistan ties have also taken a hit due to Pakistan’s illegal immigrant deportation drive which has targeted Afghans fleeing from Taliban and living in Pakistan. Pakistan last month also carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan, leading to firing across the Af-Pak border.

China-Pakistan relations remain strong on paper but Beijing is unhappy with the lack of security cover for its own citizens following the attacks on Chinese engineers and has told the Pakistani government to take appropriate action following the death of five Chinese citizens in a suicide bomb blast in March.

While Asif expects a thaw, the administration of which he is part of, blamed India for threatening regional peace in the region at the UN, while ignoring its own role in using terrorism as a state policy to destabilise the South Asian subcontinent.

“The security environment in South Asia has deteriorated sharply in recent years, as the region’s largest state has embarked on a programme of massive armament,” Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Munir Akram said during a session of the United Nations (UN) Disarmament Commission.