- The world powers must realise where their real interests lie
A few days ago, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper held bilateral talks with their Indian counterparts, dubbed as two-plus-two ministerial dialogue. and in the joint statement issued at the end of the parleys while reaffirming the growing strategic partnership and working in support of a free, open and inclusive Indo-pacific region, unwarrantedly asserted that the Pakistani territory was being used by the terrorists. The statements also asked Pakistan to take immediate and irreversible action against these networks and prevent its territory from being used in this manner.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, reacting to this indiscreet assertion, rightly rejected the statement, terming it as anti-Pakistan. The reality is that the USA-India nexus is not only designed to promote the objective of the Contain-China policy, but is also essentially anti-Pakistan. The USA and its allies, blinded by their strategic and commercial interests, are showing criminal indifference to the state terrorism by India in Indian-Occupied Kashmir and the ruthless killing spree in the Valley at the hands of the Indian security forces and the Indian action to end the special status of the state which effectively nullifies the UN resolutions on the Kashmir dispute.
They have also kept mum on the export of terrorism to Pakistan by India through the likes of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whose confessional statement and later conviction by the military court present irrefutable evidence of Indian involvement. The conscience of the so-called champions of humanitarian causes and principles enshrined in the UN Charter and the Universal Human Rights Declaration does not seem to have been stirred either by what is happening in Indian-Occupied Kashmir nor by the recent anti-Muslim legislation enacted by the Modi government which has provoked a country-wide protest movement. They have not gone beyond mild rebuke and concern over what is happening.
The USA and its allies have also shown utmost hypocrisy with regard to the sacrifices made by Pakistan in the War On Terror. While they acknowledge that Pakistan as a frontline state in the War On Terror has done a lot, they in the same breath also do not mince their words about the alleged presence of terrorist outfits on Pakistani soil to please their strategic partner India.
Their support and grovelling attitude towards India encourages the latter to continue with its oppression in Indian Occupied Kashmir and adoption of a hostile posture towards Pakistan. My considered view is that Indian PM Narendra Modi could not have made a move on Kashmir without approving nod by the USA. He proceeded with that illegal action which even constituted an affront to UN and the world community after behind-the-scene assurances by the USA and its allies that there would be no harsh reaction against those indiscretions.
The Modi government also needs to realise that the course adopted by it is neither in the ultimate interest of India nor the entire region. Its war-like disposition could endanger peace and security in the region and beyond and also jeopardises for good its efforts to change the economic situation of the teeming millions in India. Peace and security in the region are pivotal to alleviation of poverty and shared economic prosperity. The only way this objective can be realised is through resolution of disputes between Pakistan and India including the core issue of Kashmir through dialogue in conformity with the UN resolutions. The sooner this reality sinks into the minds of the Indian leadership the better. Wars and confrontations bring death and destruction and not prosperity
The continued firing along the LoC by the Indian forces and the threat hurled by the Indian Army chief that the situation at the LoC could escalate any time are ominous portents that reinforce fears expressed by Pakistan that in an effort to divert the attention of the world community from the situation in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, and compelled by the deteriorating internal situation over the Citizenship Amendment Bill, India might try to re-enact a false flag operation which could easily lead to an armed conflict between the two countries.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, reacting to the emerging situation, has rightly tried to draw the attention of the international community to the lurking dangers in his Twitter message saying, “I have been warning the international community of this for some time and I am reiterating again, if India does such an operation to divert attention from its domestic chaos plus whip-up war hysteria to mobilise Hindu nationalism, Pakistan will have no option but to give a befitting response. Over the last five years of Modi’s government, India has been moving towards a Hindu Rashtra with its Hindutva Supremacist and fascist ideology. Now with the Citizens Amendment Act, all those Indians who want a pluralist India are beginning to protest and it is becoming a mass movement. At the same time the siege by Indian Occupation forces in Indian-Occupied Kashmir continues. A bloodbath can be expected when it is lifted. As these protests are increasing, the threat to Pakistan from India is also increasing. The Indian Army Chief’s statement adds to our concerns of a False Flag operation.”
Under the circumstances, Pakistan has done well to convey her apprehensions to the P5 and other countries regarding Indian designs and seeking their support and intervention to de-escalate the situation. Pakistan needs to intensify the diplomatic offensive to sensitise the world about the dangers to peace and security in the region due to Indian action in Indian-Occupied Kashmir and the pieces of anti-Muslim legislation enacted by her.
Pakistan, inspite of being capable of giving a befitting reply to any aggressive move by India, as it proved in February when Indian planes crossed over to Pakistan and got shot down, does not want an armed conflict with her. Pakistan and India are nuclear powers and any miscalculation on either side can have disastrous consequences for both of them. The countries of the world which believe in peace and tranquillity need to play a role and use their influence on India to persuade her to reverse the situation in Indian-Occupied Kashmir and also refrain from the course it has adopted to make India a Hindu state, which can have a spillover effect in the region, particularly Pakistan. The USA and her Western allies also need to revisit their strategy of extending unqualified support to India, realising that it could spell disaster in the region and also undermine their strategic interests.
The Modi government also needs to realise that the course adopted by it is neither in the ultimate interest of India nor the entire region. Its war-like disposition could endanger peace and security in the region and beyond and also jeopardises for good its efforts to change the economic situation of the teeming millions in India. Peace and security in the region are pivotal to alleviation of poverty and shared economic prosperity. The only way this objective can be realised is through resolution of disputes between Pakistan and India including the core issue of Kashmir through dialogue in conformity with the UN resolutions. The sooner this reality sinks into the minds of the Indian leadership the better. Wars and confrontations bring death and destruction and not prosperity.
