Let me confess that my first reaction to the Narendra Modi photo-op showing him hand-in-hand with Nawaz Sharif was of shock and disbelief. For this is the same Prime Minister who, in a famous pre-election interview to Rajat Sharma, said, "A neighbour hits you and in response you go to America! Why don't you go to Pakistan instead?
Pakistan ko usi ki bhasha mein jawab dena chahiye. Yeh love-letter likhna band karna chahiye (Pakistan needs to be answered in the same language it speaks, stop writing love letters)."
So, PM Modi and Sharif holding hands at the airport and exchanging gifts on the Pakistani premier's birthday has baffled many, including some of his own followers and party leaders. Many of those who have been speaking for amity between India and Pakistan and have been termed bleeding hearts mostly by Sangh affiliates are lauding the magnanimity on the part of PM Modi.
The bonding on the surprise visit by PM Modi to Lahore was a matter of relief after the exchange of barbs and fire across the border.
In the past, the BJP had ripped apart Manmohan Singh on his Pakistan policy with Sushma Swaraj famously suggesting in 2013 that if Pakistan did not return the severed head of the martyred soldier Hemraj, India should "get at least 10 heads from the other side". It is the same party whose ideological fountainhead, the RSS, came down heavily on LK Advani in 2005 when, as party president, he distanced himself from the concept of "Akhand Bharat" (Undivided India which includes Bangladesh and Pakistan) and called the partition an "unalterable reality of history" but saluted the chief architect of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, on Pakistani soil. Standing before Jinnah's tomb, Advani had described the founder of Pakistan as "secular" and an "ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity". Within days, he was forced to step down as the President of BJP.
In 2015, the wheels of Indo-Pak relations seem to have come full circle. PM Modi and his party's foreign policy on Pakistan have been riddled with contradiction. Modi's confidante and National Security Advisor AK Doval, who single-handedly strategises the PM's diplomatic overtures, has not been able to display a coherent or well thought out Pakistan policy, with most of our actions depending on political convenience. Modi's foreign policy so far has fluctuated between catering to national sentiments when needed to win votes with a good dose of hostile statements and warm gestures when he wants to be seen like a statesman. Many foreign policy experts have suggested that our policy on Pakistan has been driven by short-term political interests veering uncomfortably from one extreme to the other.
Modi extended a hand of friendship to Nawaz Sharif, significantly on a day which saw the birth anniversary of Jinnah and the birthday of ex-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, suggesting he is keen to usher in a new era in Indo-Pak relations.
But just then, as if on cue, BJP leader and ex-RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav, in an interview with Mehdi Hasan of Al Jazeera, told the world this: "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) still believes that one day these parts, which have for historical reasons separated only 60 years ago, will again, through popular goodwill, come together and Akhand Bharat will be created." Ram Madhav, who after ten years as RSS spokesperson joined the BJP last year, is unofficially the international face of the RSS and the BJP. He is also known for his proximity to Doval. In a scenario like this, one would want to ask if it was possible that Madhav was unaware of Modi's Pakistan visit and what was to ensue further.
Did Ram Madhav play the Akhand Bharat card to placate the RSS and the hardliners while helping the PM inch closer to the image of a great statesman? If PM Modi's Pakistan policy has the blessings of the RSS, then where does it leave the concept of "Akhand Bharat" declared on April 12, 1964, by former Jan Sangh president Deendayal Upadhyaya and socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia and reiterated by RSS leaders on various occasions, including Ram Madhav in his recent interview?
In September this year, Dattatreya Hosabale, the General Secretary of the RSS, told the media, "India is part of SAARC and has family-like cultural relations with neighbouring countries, whether it is Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan or Bangladesh. It was one body which was divided to form Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is natural that people living there are part of the same family... Sometimes relations (go bad), like it happens between brothers, and so we also discussed how we can improve our relations with those who are historically and geographically attached to us."
With this as background, does Ram Madhav's statement suggest that PM Modi is treading on friendly ground only to further the Sangh's Akhand Bharat agenda? If not, it is time that our Prime Minister speaks his mind; else it will again be a case of one step forward and two steps backward in Indo-Pak relations.
(Rana Ayyub is an award-winning investigative journalist and political writer. She is working on a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will be published later this year.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.