Once again, expectations were raised and quickly dashed when it became clear that there was no likelihood of a meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. Not that there were any high expectations of the one-off meeting had it been pulled off. It wouldn’t have achieved much apart from improving the atmospherics for a while. But even that would have been a blessing considering the present state of tension and volatility on the Line of Control (LoC) that seems to have become the norm ever since the BJP came into power. In all probability, both countries, in their respective addresses to the UNGA, will be running through the usual laundry list of complaints against each other and trading barbs before world leaders — a sight that, regrettably, has been a regular feature over the years with few exceptions.
Strategic Perspectives Through Research and Dialogue
