'India must blend coercion with diplomacy to shift Pakistan's stance'

Coercion should be a means to an end, its impact leveraged through diplomacy and dialogue to shift Pakistan towards a more reasonable stance, which could lower volatility to a manageable level

Given the threat Pakistan poses, India’s goal should be to manage the relationship with the neighbouring country in a way that reduces volatility as much as possible, especially after the Pahalgam terror attack. With India taking a series of measures against Pakistan, including ban on imports, barring Pakistani ships from docking at Indian ports and vice versa, former diplomat Sharat Sabharwal, who was India’s deputy high commissioner (1995-99) and high commissioner to Pakistan (2009 to 2013), in an interview to Bhaswar Kumar and Archis Mohan, says that while calibrated coercion must remain part of India's approach to deal with Pakistan,