Why Shahbaz Sharif as Pak PM is good news for India

Both the Sharif brother have for long advocated peace with India.

Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif picked hs brother Shahbaz Sharif to succeed him. Until Shahbaz Sharif contests and wins a by-election for parliament, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi would be the interim PM. Shahbaz is currently the Chief Minister of Punjab.

India is keenly watching the developments in Pakistan and in certain quarters officials have expressed relief over the junior Sharif being picked as the PM candidate.

Like his brother Shahbaz has always wanted Pakistan to be de-militarised. He has said back in 2014 that the military was blocking Pakistan-India trade. He had last October pulled up the DG ISI for promoting terror as a result of which Pakistan was facing global isolation.

Shahbaz had always been seen as the de-facto foreign minister on Indian affairs. He has conducted diplomatic missions to Delhi on behalf of his brother. He has always distrusted the security agencies and said that they were the main reason why liberalised trade between two countries were blocked.

He had told the Guardian that security agencies on both sides need to understand that in today's world, a security-led vision is obviously driven by economic security. Unless you have economic security, you cannot have general security he had said.

Both the Sharif brother have for long advocated peace with India. However the military has been wary and has ensured that peace is blocked. For Shahbaz there are several challenges ahead. While the internal rift with the military poses the biggest challenge, he would also have to strike a balance on the Kashmir issue.

Indian officials say that the biggest challenge for him would be to reign in the military in Pakistan. His brother too had not had much success in doing so. However when it comes to dealing with the military, the junior Sharif has been seen as more assertive in nature, experts point out.

Sharif understands that the jihadis, ISI and the army have ensured that Pakistan is isolated by the international community. For now the only friend that Pakistan has is China. However Sharif would want better ties with the rest of the world including India. For this he has a major balancing act to carry out which would include keeping the ISI, army and the jihadis quiet.

OneIndia News