The new normal

Much against the skeptics’ expectations, the change of guard in the Pakistan army has been free from rancour. There was none of the earlier suspense about whether the previous chief will quietly hang his boots. Gen Raheel Sharif duly walked into the sunset after putting in three years as Pakistani army chief. The succession was equally smooth. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as should be the norm in any democratic country where civilian authority is supreme, dined out General Sharif and announced the selection of Gen Qama Javed Bajwa as his successor. What does the new appointment mean, if at all, to India?

Apart from the flutter of excitement in Punjab because many Sikhs share his surname, India can draw solace from the cordial civil-military relations that have ensured the smooth transition. General Bajwa superseded four Generals, but both the military and civilian leadership had agreed that those seniors were already out in pasture. That left Bajwa and three others with the same seniority. Again there was no difference of opinion on the edge enjoyed by Bajwa for having led Pakistan’s largest formation, the X Corps. Otherwise, the army chief, or for that matter any army chief in any country, will be guided by his country’s interests.

The apparent supremacy of the civilian leadership in the takeover process offers both India and Pakistan a chance to talk peace and normalisation. Theoretically, the army should be on the same page as Nawaz Sharif if he arms Sartaj Aziz, when he visits Amritsar next month, with proposals to defuse the tensions with India. Pakistan's envoy in India has started putting out feelers in this regard and the tempo of cross-border fire has also abated. General Bajwa will likely pursue Pakistan’s core internal security interests — wiping out recalcitrant militants from south Punjab and ensuring the security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. He will naturally pursue its two core external interests as well — Kashmir and Afghanistan. Both pit Pakistan’s security managers against India. Armies know only the idiom of confrontation and violence. Only diplomats and politicians can rewrite a new grammar.