Top activist-academic's vision of alternative foreign policy, path to peace in South Asia

By Jag Jivan   

Top academic and Magsaysay Award-winning activist Sandeep Pandey has offered a bold reimagining of India’s foreign policy, rooted in peace, regional cooperation, and dismantling hostility with Pakistan. Writing in his capacity as General Secretary of the Socialist Party (India), Pandey argues that if his party were in power, it would chart a drastically different course from the BJP-led government under Narendra Modi.

In email alert to Counterview, Pandey says, “It is futile to continue trying to prove that Pakistan is a patron of terrorism.” He critiques Prime Minister Modi’s extensive global diplomacy, asserting that the international community remains unconvinced by India’s narrative. Citing U.S. support for Pakistan—including a recent $1 billion IMF loan—and favorable gestures from countries like China, Russia, and Turkey, he asks India to introspect on why these nations view Pakistan more as a victim of terrorism than a sponsor.

In a striking contrast to the current foreign policy posture, Pandey envisions renewed dialogue with Pakistan. “The Socialist Party (India) would have sent a delegation to Pakistan instead or invited one here to India,” he states, noting that the approach would build upon the groundwork laid during the Manmohan Singh era. Pandey praises Singh for not retaliating militarily after the 2008 Mumbai attacks and instead preserving people-to-people links through train and bus services like the Samjhauta Express and Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus—services that have since been suspended post-2019.

A Socialist government, Pandey claims, would immediately restore all such links, including a visa-free corridor for Pakistani pilgrims to visit Ajmer Sharif, akin to the Kartarpur Sahib corridor established by Pakistan in 2019. “This move alone will win tremendous goodwill for India inside Pakistan,” he asserts.

Looking beyond bilateral ties, Pandey outlines a visionary proposal for reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and moving toward a passport-visa free South Asian Union. In such a framework, students, artists, athletes, and patients would be able to cross borders freely. Trade restrictions would be lifted, and both India and Pakistan would commit to denuclearization, contributing to a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in South Asia.

“India and Pakistan must join the global majority of over 125 nations that have declared themselves nuclear-free,” Pandey argues, pointing out that regions like Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa have already taken this step. He also calls for drastically reduced defence budgets and the dismantling of border fences with Pakistan and Myanmar.

On the domestic front, Pandey suggests that disputed territories like Kashmir, Baluchistan, and Nagaland could find resolution within the framework of a South Asian Union that guarantees maximum autonomy and dilutes the relevance of national borders. “The two Punjabs and Bengals could coalesce into cohesive socio-cultural units,” he writes, envisioning a borderless South Asia united by shared histories and aspirations.

Pandey closes by lamenting the current political leadership’s lack of vision, while expressing hope that people’s movements will eventually guide governments toward unity and peace. “The politics of division will last only so long as people allow it,” he writes. “Once people are awakened, governments will have to follow their mandate.”

The Socialist Party (India) has already hosted two online meetings bringing together youth and activists from both India and Pakistan in the wake of the recent Pahalgam attack. According to Pandey, these dialogues mark the beginning of a people-led movement for a peaceful and prosperous South Asia.