There are some striking parallels that can be drawn between how the market operates and how diplomacy functions. Just as in the market, a product is purchased if it satisfies a need, in diplomacy a position is taken based on interests of countries; if saleability of a product in the market depends on its attributes, desirability and quality, so too is the case with the saleability of a policy or position in diplomacy; in the market, brand image of the seller is very important, so too in case of diplomacy where the image of a country that is trying to garner support on any issue is critical; advertising campaigns of duff products receive as much traction in the market as propaganda campaigns of duff policies receive in diplomacy; companies which persist with anachronistic products get left behind and end up as bit players, which is exactly what happens to countries that persist with anachronistic policies.

Before embarking on yet another massive international propaganda campaign, which in the words of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seeks to ‘shake the collective conscience of the international community’ against India’s alleged human rights violations and repression in Kashmir, Pakistan would have done itself a favour by first examining what exactly is it selling, and whether there is any appetite in the international community for what it is selling. From India’s point of view, however, the Pavlovian response of its neighbour from hell often offers an opportunity to sell its own narrative more convincingly and compellingly. The reason for this is simple: Pakistan’s deep seated hatred for India makes it adopt positions which damage it more than any damage they cause India. But when the national psyche is ruled by the Punjabi dictum of ‘bring down the wall of your enemy, even if you come under’, then Pakistan’s self-destructive policies and propaganda should surprise no one.

In its latest campaign against India, the Pakistanis have used the dead terrorist Burhan Wani as an icon and claimed that his killing unleashed the unrest in Kashmir. Talking of Wani, the Pakistanis don’t hide that he belonged to Hizbul Mujahedin, an unabashed Islamist/Jihadist organisation that is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US. Although the Pakistanis are trying to portray him more as a social media activist, Wani himself wasn’t shy of being pictured wielding a gun and declaring that he was in the business of waging war against the Indian state. The chief of the Hizbul Mujahedin has not only defended suicide attacks but also threatened such attacks in India. Now imagine how this will play out in the international community, especially at a time when countries in Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia and North America are reeling under terror attacks by organisations that share their ideology with groups like Hizbul Mujahedin.

Clearly, Pakistanis have shot themselves in the foot by pitching their campaign on Burhan Wani, because there is hardly any sympathy, much less any appetite, in most countries of the world with Islamists and jihadists. Also, remember those pictures of Kashmiri youth in which they wave ISIS banners and Pakistani flags side by side? All India needs to do is to plaster these pictures in full page advertisement in top newspapers in all those countries where Pakistani lawmakers will be going to ‘shake the conscience of the world’. Besides the fact that ISIS is really the plural of ISI, these pictures are a terrible advertisement, not just for the Kashmiris but also for the Pakistanis who are lumped together with the ISIS.

For nearly two months now, Pakistan’s hysterical propaganda has nothing to show for it, except for a pro forma statement from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and a demand by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary general asking India to hold a referendum in Kashmir. Now if Pakistanis are banking on Ban Ki Moon then good luck to them. As for OIC, its rather rich of its secretary general to demand a referendum in the world’s largest and most raucous democracy when bulk of the OIC members don’t even hold local, forget national, elections. In any case, OIC members have perfected the art of toeing the Pakistani line from the OIC platform and ignoring it completely in their bilateral dealings with India. Even Pakistan’s ‘all weather friend’ China has, so far , desisted from weighing in on the side of Pakistan.

As often happens when Pakistan finds itself getting zero traction against India, they start to lament about lack of morality in international relations. This too is rich coming from the Pakistanis, who have shamelessly supported Turkey’s atrocious policies against the Kurds, Chinese repression in Tibet and Xinjiang and even backed China’s belligerence in South China Sea. Even a human rights based campaign by Pakistan falls flat on its face considering that Pakistan shares the dubious distinction of being a country that is among the top three in the world in administering death penalty to its own citizens. And here one is not even counting the extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances by Pakistani security agencies in Balochistan, Karachi or other parts of Pakistan. This number runs in thousands. If anything, as far as human rights are concerned, Pakistan’s record is amongst the worst in the world. For Pakistan to, therefore, take the human rights route on Kashmir, is disingenuity of the worst kind.

Finally, there is Pakistan’s latest diplomatic card of inviting India for a dialogue on Kashmir to show to the international community that they are being reasonable and that it is India that is being obdurate. This is quite typical of the low cunning and too clever by half manoeuvres by Pakistan, something that rest of the world which has suffered Pakistan’s duplicity and deceit in Afghanistan should be quite familiar with. Ironically, Pakistan’s wanting a dialogue because of what it calls ‘a grave situation in Kashmir’ actually reaffirms India’s position on export of terrorism by Pakistan. Besides being a case of the arsonist playing fireman, if Pakistan has nothing to do with the disturbances in Kashmir, what purpose will be served by holding a dialogue with it, except perhaps for allowing Pakistan to insert itself into India’s internal affairs; conversely, if Pakistan has a hand in the disturbances, then India’s stand that only terrorism be the focus of any dialogue is unexceptionable.

Unless Pakistan is living in cuckoo land (the possibility of that cannot be entirely ruled out given the delusional frame of mind of many Pakistanis), it must know that there are going to be no takers for what it is selling on Kashmir. If Pakistan is still persisting, then perhaps it has more to do with domestic politics than international diplomacy. Nawaz Sharif, who is getting boxed in by both the opposition and the military, wants to ride the Kashmir tiger to cement his position inside Pakistan. The problem with riding the tiger lies in dismounting. That is to say that once the international campaign runs out of steam without having anything to show for it, Nawaz Sharif’s political position will become even weaker than what it is currently.

While it is almost a given that Pakistan’s propaganda will fizzle out sooner rather than later, India would be making a big mistake if it thinks that Pakistan’s failure on the diplomatic front gives India a carte blanche in Kashmir. India will have to tread very carefully and will need to get its political and administrative act together in the restive state and do so smartly and sensibly. What is more, India cannot afford to be complacent on the diplomatic front. India must engage various countries and explain its position, rather than leaving the field open to the Pakistanis and their proxies and apologists in India. But most importantly, India needs to quickly end the disturbances and violence in Kashmir so that the space is created for the political and developmental outreach.