For years, Pakistan has posed itself as a responsible international player that has adhered to the rule of law and global conventions. From Pakistani civil society to the political discourse, its socio-economic challenges, tumultuous history and struggles with reputation have often been ignored to paint a golden picture of progress and prosperity, or chalked up to foreign conspiracies by long time adversaries and ‘back-stabbing allies’.

Despite Pakistan’s looming legacy of military incursions and the shadow of terror as a state policy, India has always experimented with peace with its neighbour, dealing with an ecosystem that poses Pakistan as a mirror image of India in terms of language, culture and heritage. The calls for dialogue often look to the social and cultural convergences, to create a dual world narrative in Pakistan, hoping that nurturing the educated, peace-loving side will overpower the war mongering, radical and propaganda-driven one. The optics look great in songs, films and conferences, but the tangible core of Pakistan, that manages the reality around that ecosystem, is what India has to really contend with. The core pillars of our two nations are fundamentally different – and moral sermons or viral campaigns do little to change that reality. It is the only reason why an iron fist approach to Pakistan is the only tangible foreign policy.

For nearly eight decades, Pakistan has struggled to live up to its democratic promise. Periodic elections may give the impression of representative rule, but behind the ballot boxes lies a system distorted by military dominance, feudal strangleholds, minority exclusion, foreign dependency, and the dark shadow of terror.

Roughly 33 years out of 78 since Pakistan’s independence can be classified as sustained democratic periods where civilian governments were elected and survived without being overthrown by a coup.........

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