When reporting on the recently held elections in Pakistan or the visits of their cricket team, the Indian media frequently enters a state of hyperactivity. This is true regardless of the topic being covered. The persistent mentality that exists within the Indian media hurts the attempts that are being made to de-hyphenate India and Pakistan.
Commentators in both worldwide and regional media continue to compare India and Pakistan without distinguishing between them on several different aspects. This story may be consistent with Pakistan’s point of view, yet it is a clear indication that the Indian narrative is being undermined. As an illustration, during the most recent election in Pakistan, Aatish Taseer, a well-known pundit on South Asian affairs, tweeted the following:
Major Twitter accounts in India then promoted this tweet, which in the eyes of viewers from both the region and the rest of the world once more hyphenated India and Pakistan. As was said earlier, Taseer’s tweet draws attention to the problematic past of Pakistan’s elections, but in the process, it unintentionally taints the great democratic record that India has accumulated.
An additional piece of writing that appeared in a well-known online media outlet gives the impression that the Indian people have some emotional connection to their brothers and sisters in Pakistan. While these efforts to hyphenate India and Pakistan continue, it is becoming increasingly important for the Indian position on global issues to be communicated powerfully. To accomplish this goal, it is necessary to allocate significant resources on both the national and international levels.
The West categorised the two nations for a substantial amount of time because they shared cultural characteristics, demographic characteristics, and economic circumstances. Even when severe problems such as terrorism in Kashmir occurred, these were seen as being restricted to their territory. The antagonism that existed between these nations was frequently seen as an internal issue. As a result of the Western position’s reluctance to identify India as a serious global power, the Western position refrained from separating India and Pakistan. India’s stature and influence were confined to the South Asian region only as a result of the simplest method, which consisted of continually juxtaposing India with Pakistan.
Two crucial factors had a significant impact on this viewpoint:
First, the terrorist events that occurred on September 11, 2001; second, India’s rise to prominence as a global economic force after the 1990s. The strikes on September 11 of this year transformed the Western idea that terrorism was solely confined to India and had the potential to have a significant impact on their territory. Because of this occurrence, the narrative was turned upside down, and the West, which had previously advocated for moral solutions to the problem of terrorism through bilateral discussions between India and Pakistan, was forced to invest billions of dollars in the “War on Terror” within the territory that was perceived to be “enemy” territory.
Because Pakistan was recognised as a global issue, the Western world viewed India, which is a democratic nation that is both accountable and stable, as a potential long-term partnership. This change was a crucial contributor to the dissociation of India and Pakistan in the minds of Western audiences.
Another crucial aspect that played a big role in the disassociation was India’s rise to prominence as a major economic powerhouse as a result of the liberalisation measures that were implemented in the 1990s. Even India’s foes were forced to normalise their relations with India as a result of the expansion of India’s middle class, the meteoric rise in information technology exports, and the growing purchasing power of the Indian people.
Pakistan, on the other hand, was subjected to a string of military coups that were not democratic and were reliant on successive rescue packages from the International Monetary Fund. At the moment, Pakistan is dealing with one of the most serious political and economic crises it has ever seen, whereas India has recently been officially recognised as the fifth-largest economy in the world and has been experiencing a steady increase in its foreign reserves every year.
The global audience has once again been driven to perceive India and Pakistan through separate glasses due to this sharp contrast, which has further reinforced the de-hyphenation of these two countries.
The hyphenation of India and Pakistan continues as a result of the Indian media’s disproportionate coverage of Pakistan for TRP ratings. This is a factor that continues to be a source of disappointment. The public around the world is led astray by this presentation, which gives the idea that India has a big interest in Pakistan.
The nuclear threat that Pakistan has been posing has been disproved as a bluff, the amount of trade that takes place between the two countries is minuscule and has a minor influence on India’s economy, and the Indian government has unambiguously defined its position on the Kashmir problem by abolition of Article 370. Despite this, even though the Pakistani political class does not have much clout, events like visits by Pakistani ministers continue to fascinate the Indian media. The military controls the majority of elements, particularly those that are related to India. Because of the pervasiveness of this mentality within the Indian media, their attention is limited to concerns about the region, and they do not take into account the bigger global perspective.
It is important to note that the approach that the Indian bureaucracy and government have taken throughout this narrative is a noteworthy component. Pakistan has categorically fallen from one of the most preferred countries to the least preferred country under the current Modi administration in India. This transition occurred under the leadership of Minister Modi. To intentionally avoid an undue focus on Pakistan-related concerns that could potentially place India in the same column as Pakistan, the administration has been very vigilant in promoting India’s growth trajectory to domestic and international audiences. With the help of this strategy, India has successfully established itself as a prominent emerging power in Asia. Mr. Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs, has articulated this position skillfully on a variety of forums, both within India and on the world scene.
There is a pressing need for the Indian media to transform into a global entity, expanding its influence beyond the confines of various regions. A shift in thinking, away from age-old preoccupations with local and regional matters, is required, however, to accommodate this shift well. On the other hand, it is necessary to cover international topics from an Indian point of view to establish credibility among those who make decisions on a worldwide scale.
Both in terms of elevating India’s image as a prominent worldwide player and in terms of effectively championing the Indian narrative amid the rising global conversation, the role of the Indian media carries a tremendous amount of weight. We mustn’t place an excessive amount of attention on our neighbours, as this could unwittingly elevate their prestige while potentially reducing our standing as a global power. This is even though it is a fact that we are unable to change our neighbours.
