Take Pakistan to the high ground

India-Pakistan relations are complicated. However, the current situation - one-third of Pakistan under water, thousands dead, millions displaced, and a conservative reconstruction estimate of $10 billion - calls for some out-of-the-box thinking. Narendra Modi's outreach, and calls from within the Pakistan establishment to reach out to India, have not exactly found favour with Pakistan's PM Shehbaz Sharif, despite the growing need for India's involvement.

As an emerging global player, India must find ways to reprise its role as a major power in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific. Playing a global role requires considering trade-offs and increased influence. While that does not mean sacrificing national interests, it does require taking a broader perspective. Modi's outreach to flood victims in Pakistan provides India that opportunity of taking the higher road, both morally as well as diplomatically. India should approach the idea of providing aid and assistance to Pakistan at this critical juncture not as a measure that will normalise bilateral relationships - it won't - or for Pakistan to stop providing haven for terror activities against India. Instead, New Delhi should act because that is what great powers do at moments of humanitarian crisis.

Taking a leaf from its own past and from its partners in the West, India can act through international agencies involved in providing assistance and addressing the crisis in Pakistan. India did this during the pandemic, when it supplied vaccines to Pakistan via the global vaccine alliance Gavi. India can also contribute to the effort by drawing international attention for a just and equitable tackling of the impacts of climate change. It must not be seen as sitting this one out.