Why should India send a minister for Pakistan Day?

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Minister of State for Agriculture, will go to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to attend the Pakistan Day celebrations there, the government said on Friday. 

The decision, while being a matter of protocol, was met with surprise as it follows a period when Pakistan's behaviour, both at the border as well as diplomatically, has been at its worst.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to India was rushed back to New Delhi on Thursday -- an about turn on Pakistan's earlier statement that he would not return until allegations of harassment of Pakistani diplomats in India were addressed by the Indian government. On the other hand, India has sent 15 note verbales to Pakistan in 2018 regarding intensifying harassment and blockage of services to its own diplomatic establishment in Pakistan. The latest one was sent as recently as Thursday.

At the border, meanwhile, Pakistan's aggression, in terms of its military as well as its support for terrorism, has been escalating. Five persons of a family, including children, were killed by the Pak Army's cross-border firing in Pulwama just this week as Pak targeted civilian areas. Six security personnel were martyred over the last two days in a gunbattle with terrorists in Kupwara.

Furthermore, a number of separatist elements are expected to be in attendance at the Pak High Commission's event. 

The Modi government has been consistent its view-point that it would not engage with Pakistan over Kashmir until Pakistan ceases its support for terror. However, not only has Pakistan not done so, but on Friday, the very same day as an Indian minister will attend the Pakistan Day celebrations, 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed is expected to unveil his party manifesto for the Pakistan elections -- hardly the sign of a crackdown on terror. So why send a minister to attend Pak Day?