While Pakistan is busy congratulating itself on its great narrative victory…..

The bigger issue is that without those contradictions surfacing materially, we are not going to catch up or even tread water in our relative disparity with the CCP.

“large majority of Pakistanis are just sheep”
Agreed.

“not all of them are anti-hindu anti-India bigots”
Obviously not all of them but this is just hopes and prayers. Atleast a. very large and powerful minority (majority?) are like this.

“And I do think they are our ….estranged kin”
And Afghans are Pakistan’s estranged kin, and Tajiks/Uzbek are the Pashtun’s estranged kin, … and so on the overlaps go. Same-same but different. We should move on, only interact if beneficial for us. If they hurt us, take something from them.

“Observe calmly; secure our position; cope with affairs calmly; hide our capacities and bide our time; be good at maintaining a low profile; and never claim leadership.”

— Deng Xiaoping

The US was a distant 4th great power prior to WW1. We simply have to hide our capacities and bide our time. There will be a day when Chinese internal contradictions will manifest themselves. But that day isn’t coming for at least a decade imo.

Our great power ambitions were compromised the day Congress refused to cooperate in WW2. Our aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines will never go out of Indian ocean for stretching legs. Now we just have some limited strategic objectives remaining, like capturing markets, tying rival economies up, Dhurandhar-ing, maybe take land if Pakistan makes big mistakes.

Is there anything that China asks of Pakistan, that it would not do happily if it hurts India. Foreign air bases, naval bases, trade, law-fare, on ground intelligence, skirmish, large war, domestic unrest, insurgency, … Pakistan has gone above and beyond even at the cost of their sovereignty.

There is no way around relegation. We should accept our lower status, bide our time and enjoy playing the game at hand. Anyways, the India-Pakistan military wars are surprisingly civilized, it is not like it costs a lot in lives or …

Its not about economic value. I think that large majority of Pakistanis are just sheep – not all of them are anti-hindu anti-India bigots. And I do think they are our ….estranged kin. Heck, if the planet is … Vasudev Kutumb, then the residents along the Indus certainly are.

But all of this… high minded stuff takes a backseat to overt hostility and terrorist violence.

Pakistanis being a agrarian society feel the pain on this one. Linking it to terrorism is just making up a causus beli. There is emphasis on cooperative spirit, friendship, and goodwill in the very text of IWT. None exist between the two.

Third parties will always try to wriggle themselves in and become the Sarpanch. China does not accept ICJ’s judgement on South China Sea re China-Phillipines. Pakistan toppled entire elected government of Afghanistan. Strong do what they can …

EU style coexistence is like dreaming Delhi is London or Mumbai is NY. It is not. We are at a different point on the civilization development, decades behind on infra, centuries behind in experiences and capacity, …

Munir is only 57 and fit, a long life of humiliation ahead … Pakistanis dig ‘The Dictator’ series, the fifth season is on air.

Very true. The peacenik in me pines for a EU style coexistence with Pak. The realist in me recognizes that its a distant dream as of now, and in the interim, we should be celebrating the fact that Pakistanis continue submitting to the likes of Muneer.

I think we are heavily overestimating the economic value a nation like Pakistan represents to India in terms of trade or investment. Even with the most optimistic estimates it will create trade at around 10 billion dollars while requiring India to moderate or give up on several strategic objectives. Meanwhile even just a minor addition to the EU FTA could generate that amount of value for the country in 5-10 years. Therefore, what advantage does an EU like arrangement even have for the Indian state. For me in an ideal world we would just have GSP+ equivalent status for each other reciprocally and call it a day that way we don’t have to compromise on any strategic objectives.

We will find out limits of Afghan-India love when the Chabahar-Zahedan rail line starts operation, btw track laying is complete. Khaf-Herat connection between Iran and Afghanistan will be complete in late 2026. Too much in the ‘geopolitical’ tinfoil hat territory for me. But this is an interesting development. Iranians are serious operators, Punjabi-Mojahirs run from battle.