Shortly after his election last year as Pakistan’s premier, Imran Khan wrote to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, proposing comprehensive talks aimed at resolving their decades-old differences.
Acknowledging the “undeniably challenging relationship”, the Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician said the leaders owed it “to our peoples, especially future generations, to peacefully resolve all outstanding issues . . . bridge differences and achieve a mutually beneficial outcome”.
Five months later, the nuclear-armed neighbours who have fought four wars — one undeclared — are engaged in their most intense hostilities in decades, sparked by a suicide attack this month that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in India’s restive Kashmir province.