Breaking status quo

THE delectable irony that presented itself at the meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) in Abu Dhabi will linger on in memory for some time. India’s Sushma Swaraj delivered an address as the guest of honour, while Pakistan, which had once blocked India’s one and only effort to join the OIC, sat out in protest. The OIC meeting and Swaraj’s speech would have passed unnoticed if the situation had been normal, since the speech was unremarkable. But the circumstances were remarkable: India had sent fighter jets into Pakistan, which summoned an emergency meeting of the OIC’s subcommittee on Kashmir that produced a statement condemning India’s air strike.

But Pakistan lost the battle for the moment. Its entreaties cut no ice with OIC boss Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had to miss the flight to Abu Dhabi. More remarkable was that the host country for the meet, the UAE, was unmoved by arguments prioritising the sentiments of Pakistan, a founder member and self-declared Islamic nation. Since Pakistan has been more important in the Saudi/UAE scheme of things, some suspect there is more to it than meets the eye in this unusual accommodation of India by the petro dollar powers. The fight against terrorism deeply moves them only if their own interests are endangered by armed extremists. This is a grey area that needs deeper exploration because at stake is our policy not to put all our energy eggs in one basket.

It will, however, be alarmist or narrow-minded to oppose a closer Indian dalliance with the OIC, which has the UN, NAM, Russia and Thailand as observers. The amplified response to the Pulwama attack in the form of an air strike and the post-Uri surgical strike were attempts to change the status quo with Pakistan.  An involvement with the OIC helps India break into Pakistan’s social circle of countries. India’s engagement, the broad outlines of which were proposed by Swaraj in Abu Dhabi, will lack credibility if it is left to the judiciary to safeguard minority rights. India’s political executive must celebrate religious diversity at home as it does abroad.