As soon as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced, on Twitter, that he intended to visit Lahore and meet Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj called a meeting of BJP spokespersons and TV panellists to brief them on how to treat the event in public relations terms.
With not many people in the loop as the event unfolded, it was important that the party seize the PR initiative.
The Opposition was not only expected to criticise this move, even the party’s own cadre could ask those very embarrassing questions on what had changed on the ground to merit this outreach.
The need to combat the Opposition and convince the naysayers from within was both important.
The spokespersons wanted to know what line they should take on India-Pakistan cricketing ties, hosting Pakistani artists such as Ghulam Ali and what answers to give hardline allies like the Shiv Sena.
BJP: We’re dealing with Pak. on our terms
The BJP wanted to get the optics right on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise stopover in Lahore to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif. The compulsion of Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj calling a meeting of BJP spokespersons and TV panellists on this was obvious. The party had adopted a strident anti-Pakistan tone during the UPA regime, and in the last year and a half cancelled the NSA-level talks because of Pakistan’s insistence on meeting Hurriyat leaders. The party’s own hardline cadre would want answers on just what had changed in December.
“We were told to duck questions on cricket and Pakistani artists. Those are things that could happen at a later date,” said a source. “The most important point to stress,would be that we are engaging with Pakistan from a position of strength.,” the source said.
