Yepiiii, SDREs it has started floating........the rights, the entitlements, the bigheartedness, the big brother's responsibility/love syndrome, the claims of differentiation between aam abduls & elites (khakis) yada yada........ 
Why Pakistanis Need India's Help to Survive Economic Collapse
By Hasan Suroor, TIMES OF INDIA.COM
Feb 20, 2023, 13:37 IST
India has every reason to be miffed with Pakistan for repeated betrayals by successive governments. However, New Delhi should also remember that its quarrel is with the ruling elite, not the suffering masses
Much of the Indian reaction to Pakistan's deepening economic crisis — both at the official and civil society level — has been largely marked by indifference, even barely concealed glee, with commentators lining up to declare Islamabad as the architect of its own misfortunes and lecturing it to set its house in order.
Any suggestion that India might offer a helping hand has been greeted with ridicule. So, it was rather brave of AS Dulat, one of India's best-known former spymasters, to stick his neck out while speaking at the Times Lit Festival last week.
(Daulat & his types are last hope of porkies to a window of hope of discussions with current govt. of India)
In response to a question on the issue during a discussion on his new book, A Life in the Shadows , he noted that Pakistan was "in an awful mess in every way" — and then went on to suggest that "Modiji might bail out Pakistan. Maybe there will be talks with Pakistan before the year is up?" This left many wondering if he was joking or did he really know something we don't. Was there something going on behind the scenes to save Pakistan from total collapse?
To many, however, the very idea of India bailing out Pakistan which it regards as an 'epicentre of terrorism' and with whom it has doggedly ruled out any talks unless it renounces terror sounds like a bad joke. If anything, India's Pakistan policy has only hardened of late. Pakistan's Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif's rather desperate call for talks recently was met with disdain in New Delhi.
And Islamabad was told to first create "a conducive atmosphere which does not have terror, hostility or violence", as ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi put it. Following which Pakistan too toughened its position saying that talks “can only take place after India had reversed its illegal action of August 5, 2019”, — a reference to the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
In such a climate, Dulat's loud-thinking has little chance of flying.
But that doesn't take away from the principled merit of offering help to a neighbour in extreme distress prioritising compassion over political differences. Indeed, it can prove to be the Modi government's most enduring legacy — likely to be long remembered by millions of ordinary Pakistanis reeling from the consequences of their rulers' criminal neglect of the country's national interest, and their consitutional duty of care towards the people who voted them to power.
India needs to show a big heart
It will also put in sharper focus India's much-acclaimed soft power and its long tradition of running humanitarian missions across the world, the earthquake-hit Turkiye being the latest case in point. Last week, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader wrote a long op-ed on how "India’s soft power is blooming under Modi" with the Prime Minister showing "a willingness to see beyond conflicts and do the right thing in the larger interest".
"This was visible during Covid-19, the Lankan economic crisis and now again in earthquake-hit Turkiye. This month saw déjà vu of that magnanimous, yet strategic mindset when India was among the first nations to respond with aid to Turkiye after a devastating earthquake. (terrorist, beggars are noticing it all) It is no secret that relations between the two countries had been strained, with acerbic exchanges and sparring at global forums over Jammu and Kashmir and cross-border terrorism. Such willingness to put aside slights and personal affronts, see beyond conflicts, and do the right thing in the larger national and global interest is rare, and easier said than done," wrote Baijayant 'Jay' Panda, national vice-president of the BJP.
He went on to say how it takes "a big heart, steely determination and a deeply held belief in a higher principle, in this case, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Indic philosophy’s old vision of the world as one family.".
Border Movie scene, begging by injured porki TFTA soillder , who was raised with mindwash that 1 TFTA mard e momin soilder == 10 SDRE baniya soilder, tumko tumhare rab ka wasta, mujhey mat marnaa....
Clearly, Pakistan doesn't qualify to be a member of this Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam presumably as a punishment for what Panda calls its "hostility" to India. Yet, in a preceding paragraph, he tells us that humanitarian spirit is all about "a willingness to see beyond conflicts and do the right thing in the larger interest". It would seem that in the BJP and the Modi government's view helping Pakistan serves no "larger interest".
True, India has every reason to be miffed with Pakistan for the repeated betrayal of trust by successive ruling establishments in Islamabad — from the Bhuttos to the Sharifs, and Pervez Musharraf.
But here's the thing that is often overlooked: our quarrel is with Pakistan's political and military rulers — not with its people who who are the real victims of the existential crisis caused by their corrupt and cynically self-serving ruling elite. It's they who need our help — not the Sharifs, the Khans, the Bhuttos and their army mates.
Moreover, as a bigger and richer neighbour with a booming economy India can afford to be
magnanimous towards its down-and-out neighbour. I dare say, it has a moral obligation to help the vulnerable people of Pakistan, notwithstanding its difficult relationship with Pakistan's bankrupt leadership. And, mind you, the people of Pakistan are not just any old neighbours. We were family once and are still bound by lingering ties of kinship and old friendships.
Moreover, for much of the past seven decades or so, it's the people-to-people contacts that have essentially sustained India-Pakistan relations whether through cricket, travel or exchange of writers and artistes; though lately they have all been dispensed with one by one.
This is a great opportunity to go back to the people: the people of India reaching out to friends across the border in a time of crisis.
But the biggest argument in favour of averting Pakistan's economic collapse is that if it goes bust it could have serious strategic and security implications for the entire region, India not excluded.
As Farzana Shaikh, associate fellow of Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House, London and a strong critic of Pakistan's ruling elite warned:
"Pakistan is not a small country — it is 220mn people, it's nuclear armed and if this economic crisis fuels instability, the spillover and effect on neighbouring countries could be quite serious. There is really no underestimating that.". A view echoed by many Indian analysts.
"If the Pakistani economy tanks completely, there is a possibility that India will have to face a refugee influx. And if Pakistan turns into a failed state, there is a possibility that terror networks will increase their influence within Pakistan, and that has the potential to directly harm India's interests," Sourish Ghosh, an independent researcher, told Moneycontrol .com.
There's an Urdu saying, "Hum to doobenge sanam, tum ko bhi le jayenge" (When we sink, my dear, we will drag you down with us too).
Let the message go out to Islamabad, that Delhi remains a city of dilwalon ki whose heart is still in the right place, irrespective of what they plot in Islamabad.
The writer is an independent commentator.
https://archive.ph/jlHaq#selection-1769.0-1801.40
