By Invitation: Pakistan buckled under India's muscular foreign policy

Within 24 hours of making a statement that Pakistan would talk to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with “certain conditions,” Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan made a sudden U-turn and announced in his parliament that he would be released on Friday without any pre-conditions.

Of course, Mr Imran Khan also said that his country would release the IAF pilot as a “peace gesture” which everyone knows is meaningless. The fact of the matter is that there was no option for Pakistan other than to release Abhinandan without any external or internal injury and with his honour, dignity and self-respect intact.

What made Imran Khan make this U- turn and why did the Pakistan Army not repeat its brutal and cruel behaviour with Captain Sourabh Kalia in 1999 when it killed and mutilated his body while in captivity?

Here lies India's success story in so far as its foreign policy is concerned. The return of Abhinandan is the result of the muscular foreign policy and coercive diplomacy that India has been adopting ever since Mr Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister in May 2014.

In fact, it is more the PMO that has set the narrative of the foreign ministry under the direct guidance of the Prime Minister himself. Of course, it goes to the credit of Ms Sushma Swaraj, the erudite foreign minister, for translating Mr Modi's narrative into practical reality.

This far-reaching qualitative change in the foreign policy narrative, from the Nehruvian era's wishy-washy policy, was a crying need to make the world look at India with awe and respect and make Indians across the globe feel proud and walk tall with their heads held high. Mr Modi realised and addressed this need.

When he started undertaking foreign trips starting from Bhutan, he came under severe criticism by his political opponents. So much so that his critics released to the media the expenses he incurred on his foreign trips. But it is only during the current ongoing crisis that India became aware of the purpose and reason of Mr Modi's foreign visits.

Starting from the US and going on to Russia, Britain and Israel, not to mention the Arab world, every country has stood by India and condemned Pakistan. Even China, which is always seen as a friend of Pakistan, was forced to tell it not to harbour terrorists.

New Delhi conveyed to Washington through NSA, Ajit Doval that the India of February 2019 was totally different from the India of December 1999 - when the country had to suffer the ignominy of releasing the three terrorists - Masood Azhar being one of them - in exchange for IC - 814 passengers.

“If the IAF pilot is not released immediately, then the consequences will be catastrophic for Pakistan” is the sum and substance of the message that was conveyed to all countries, especially the USA and Israel.

India meant what it conveyed to world powers as Mr Modi had told the domestic constituency that “he would not allow Mother India's head to bow” before its enemies. Stakes were very high for the Prime Minister after making this statement and Team Modi ensured that Pakistan buckled under New India's Muscular Policy and Coercive Diplomacy.