Pakistan prepares for crucial elections in 2024 as ties with India remain frozen

Pakistan-India relations remain strained over Kashmir issue, but analysts hope for improvement with Nawaz Sharif's potential return to power.

Pakistan-India bilateral relations remained frozen for the fourth year over the vexed Kashmir issue but analysts hope the strained ties could be repaired if Nawaz Sharif becomes the Prime Minister for a record fourth time in the general elections in February in the absence of his main challenger Imran Khan who is in jail in multiple cases.

The main highlight of the outgoing year was a visit to India by then-foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in May to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ministerial moot in Goa.

The usual pre-visit hype centred on the question of any meeting between Mr. Bilawal and Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar. But both sides did not show any desire for such a meeting. Instead, the two leaders in their official speeches at the ministerial huddle, targeted each other's countries through innuendoes and pointed jargon.

Mr. Bilawal’s choice of words, especially urging the participants not to let terrorism hinder political relations, irked many in India. Mr. Jaishankar in his address to the SCO meeting underscored the importance of stopping the issue of cross-border terrorism.

Thus, Mr. Bilawal’s trip, which was the first by a Pakistani foreign minister to India in almost 12 years, failed to repair the strained ties which remained frozen over the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations with India by expelling its envoy in Islamabad and stopped trade ties following New Delhi's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 after abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution.

In December, Pakistan's current caretaker government and Pakistani political leaders also reacted sharply to India's Supreme Court upholding the Indian government's decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution.