On February 3, Pakistan army chief Qamar Jawed Bajwa made a surprise speech in the Pakistan Air Force academy, saying that the country is committed to the "ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence and it is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions”. The statement—referring to India—was in direct contrast to the vitriol aimed at India over the past years from Pakistan PM Imran Khan, post the Balakot strikes and the Jammu and Kashmir Artice 370 abrogation, leading to the steady deterioration of ties between the two countries. "We stand firmly with the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. It is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions. Pakistan and India must also resolve the long-standing issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner," Bajwa said, reported multiple publications.
This was the first of the open peace overtures from Pakistan in the weeks before the ceasefire agreement announced on Thursday.
The second crack in the ice came on February 11, when Moeed Yusuf, the special assistant to Khan, said in a video that "we need to move forward if we wanted peace". "The idea of peace remains. The Pakistan prime minister's number one priority is peace in the region. We speak about economic security. Can we have economic security without peace in the region? No, it is an oxymoron. If you want peace, you have to move forward. If you want to move forward, everybody has to be rational," he said.
And it did not stop there. On February 18, Pakistan had become a willing member of a COVID-19 meeting conducted by health secretaries of nine countries in the region. The same week, India had allowed Imran Khan to use Indian airspace for a flight to Sri Lanka. This had come in direct contrast to the actions taken by Pakistan in 2019, when it denied opening its airspace for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flights to the US and Saudi Arabia.
Ceasefire agreement as a salve
India and Pakistan had on Thursday announced that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors, even as Indian Army officials asserted there would be no let-up in its fight against terrorism or in its troop deployment along the borders. A joint statement issued in Islamabad and New Delhi said the Director Generals of Military Operations of the two countries held discussions over the established mechanism of hotline contact and reviewed the situation along the LoC and all other sectors in a "free, frank and cordial" atmosphere.
"In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, the two DGMOs agreed to address each other's core issues and concerns which have propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence. Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight of February 24/25," the joint statement said.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan and is committed to resolving all issues bilaterally in a peaceful manner. "On key issues, our position remains unchanged. I do not think I need to reiterate it," MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said when asked about India's core concerns, including on the issue of cross-border terrorism.
"On relations with Pakistan, as we have said earlier, India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. We have always maintained that we are committed to addressing issues, if any, in a peaceful and bilateral manner," he added.
