Dr. Ommar Hayat Abbasi
Kashmir has remained an unresolved issue for over 70-years. It is high time that the international community comes together and work towards resolving the issue from a new perspective. In the wake of recent Indian unilateral decision of ripping Kashmiris of their basic rights by revokingArticles 370 and 35A by the Indian Government in Kashmir has left the valley exposed to Indianization.Therefore,De-Indianizationis the need of the hour and this is why Pakistan should pursue proactive diplomacyrather than reactive diplomacy. The world has witnessed a strong reaction against this decisionwithin Pakistan, both in discourse and at policy level. The problem is that Pakistan’s policy is reactivein nature.
Pakistan has strictly adhered to reactive policy, diplomacy and discourse.A reactive mindset seems to be the issue in diplomacy, policy culture or discourse in Pakistan in general and with reference to India in relation to Kashmir crisis in particular. In 1998,Pakistan became nuclear states due to action-reaction-syndrome.Understanding the patterns of Pakistan’s policy, diplomacy and discourse vis-à-vis India, action-reaction-syndromehas always been a common trend.The nuclear tests, which had beenconducted were in reaction to India’s nuclear tests.
Pakistan however, needs to pave new ways to cope with India.Recent diplomatic moveswereproblematic and unsuccessful because of their inherent flaw for being reactive not proactive in nature? The narrative on equating Modi and RSS with Nazis did not help Pakistan resolve the Kashmir Conflict for mainly two reasons. Firstly,since Trump come to power,US in particular has distanced itself from European Union and NATO, which hascompelled Europe to revise their past from a different perspective in the21st century.Compared with the previous century’s post World War II spectacles, which includes even the most politically sensitive issue of Nazism. Secondly, human rights violation in Kashmir needs to be placed at the core of Pakistan’s foreign policy.Going to International Court of Justice(ICJ) and Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission(NNSC)for human rights violations will not help resolve the Kashmir Conflict. Intervention of international institutions remain questionable because the world continues to watch asIndia suppresses Kashmiris of their right of self-determination for decades andthe dispute between India and Pakistan remains unresolved as we speak today. Therefore,rescuing Kashmiris from the brutalities of Indian forces needs to be our foremost concern, this is directly proportional toPakistan’s diplomacy rather than expecting the international community to take concrete steps. Pakistan needs to pursue a changed action based diplomatic narrative rather than depending on Europe, US and other super powersto help resolve Kashmir Conflict.
Such an approach comes with its own set of problems; it has the potential to contradict with other ground realities of the regionwhere human insecurities have become a lifestyle. This might resonate with the Western audience;world leaders are bound to pass statements in regard to human rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. They have stressed time and time again that India should stop the violations against the Kashmiris but unfortunately failed to take any action against Indianizationof the valley. Unresolved dispute or failed intervention makes us seriously question the credibility of international law and order; Will ICJ be able to stop violations of BJP’s ultra-radical nationalist ideology against Kashmiris? The answer for now remains uncertain. Recent communication blockade in the region, placement of curfew with more than 600,000 Indian soldiers dispatched toterrorize Kashmiris and stop them from raising their voices against Mahdi’sfascistgovernment is proof that the international community has failed yet again to take action against India.Strategically for Pakistan, revoking of Articles 370 and 35Ahas provided an opportunity to expose Indian malicious designs against Kashmiri Muslims. The revocation of Articles370 and 35A has somewhat helped the Pakistani government to engage not only Pakistanis but the international community in educating them about Indianization of Kashmir.
To find a solution is imperative, being proactive rather than reactive in policy-making and innovative diplomacy to resolve the Kashmir Conflict should be the next step forward.Pakistan needs to find a strategically diplomatic and soft approach and as a nation it needs to streamlineinformation systematically andto promote dialogue for the cause of Kashmir.
At this point in time Pakistan’s missions and embassies abroad in a number of foreign countries have yet to work towards the cause. The sad truth is that they arehighly inactive, careless and indifferent.They have yet to engagepeople to work towards the freedom of Kashmir. This is what differentiates Indiaand gives it a competitive advantage over Pakistan’s foreign policy. India propagatesand guards their agendas not only domestically but also on foreign ground. Indian diasporas are used systemically to engage and propagate the Indian narrative, which has compelled its citizensto look at the Kashmir Conflict from an Indian perspective. On the other hand, Pakistan, has failed miserably in this vein. Pakistan has not been able to come up with a mechanism on foreign policy formulation, this is dueto time constraints.
Pakistan needs to be strategically innovative with the help of our diasporas, the center point in our diplomatic agenda should be the possibility of a nuclear clash. In his recent tweet andspeech of Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh stated,”Pokhran is the area which witnessed Atal Ji’s firm resolve to make India a nuclear power and yet remain firmly committed to the doctrine of No First Use’. India has strictly adhered to this doctrine. What happens in future depends on the circumstances?”In reply,Pakistan’s foreign office also issued a statement regarding how unfortunate Rajnath Singh’s statement was, but with our proactive diplomacy Pakistan needs to explain to the word that this is not the human rights violation alone, which Indian has been so openly practicing, it is in fact an outcome of a territorial dispute between two nuclear states. The agenda of Modi’s government, BJP or the RSS ideology is in fact ‘power’ not just in the South Asian region, but in the rest of the word towards a nuclear disaster.
Kashmir’s freedom is a possibility that can be turned into reality without a doubt because fter WW-II, there is an equal percentage of successful and failed insurgencies and 20% are still going on, including Kashmir
According to RAND Corporation: Insurgencies since 1945:
Therefore, Pakistan has to replace the focal point of its diplomatic agenda from human rights violation in Kashmir to the possible nuclear clash between and India, not because Pakistan desires such an adventure but because of Indian unilateralism and RSS, BJP’s extremist ideology. With the help of practicing proactive diplomacy by increasing the frequency of meetings and dialogues with world leaders and engaging our diasporas in organizing conferences in different parts of the world.
Survival is a collective responsibility and after fighting two wars, western democracies need to understand that they will have to stand up to the ignorance they have germinated, because if theydo not take timely measures, the ignorant will run free to spread ignorance like a disease. In this current scenario it will be highly ignorant to expect restraints from India under xenophobic leadership. The freedom of struggle is an ongoing war being fought not only by Kashmiris but Pakistanis as well.Such a reflection of reality will not just resonate with western policy makers but will also compel them to take serious actions in resolving the dispute between Pakistan and India once and for all.
