India-Pakistan ties further dented with Sharif's ouster

A thaw in India’s troubled ties with Pakistan now appears all the more distant with the removal of M Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister of the neighbouring country.

New Delhi is of the view that the abrupt end to Sharif’s third term as prime minister will add to the clout of the all-powerful “deep state” of Pakistan – its army.

Sources involved with management of New Delhi’s relations with Islamabad anticipate that the Pakistan army and its military spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence, will now have more leeway to flout ceasefire along the Line of Control with India.

The Pakistan army may also have a greater freedom to use its proxies — the terror outfits such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed — to carry out attacks and foment trouble in India.

New Delhi has been closely watching the political rumblings in Islamabad ever since Sharif and his children came under the scanner following the Panama Papers leak.