Muhammad Rayyan Ali
Pakistan continues to enjoy important international stature due to its geopolitical significance, potent nuclear capability, professionally strong armed forces, and its economic potential. It remains a pivot to regional security, connectivity and prosperity; and is thus an important stakeholder in regional and world affairs.
Modi’s scheme of using the BRICS platform to isolate Pakistan couldn’t find voice in the Goa declaration despite repeatedly bringing up the issue of Pakistan. Instead China’s Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Hua Chunying said: “Pakistan has made huge efforts and great sacrifices in fighting terrorism. I think the international community should respect this. We also oppose the linking of terrorism to any specific country, ethnicity or religion. This is China’s consistent position.” She added that China would support its all-weather ally amid a campaign by India to isolate Pakistan. Russia also refused to support India in her allegations that Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism. In fact Modi was so obsessed and fixated on this agenda that he overplayed the issue in every session, which was outside the scope of BRICS, derailing BRICS’ own agenda in the process.
After these unsuccessful ventures India is left with no other option but take a recourse to repeated LOC violations regardless of the 2003 Ceasefire Agreement, besides killing and injuring a number of civilians. India must let go of this adamant pattern, stop hatching conspiracies to harm Pakistan and should reconcile with Pakistan’s existence.
It is important that the world continues to cooperate with Pakistan in its endeavours aimed at eliminating the terrorist threats in the region. There are countless opportunities and options on the route surrounding diplomacy and peace between the two nuclear-armed states, yet for this we need to get rid of the unwanted obstructions on the way.
However, after the 18th September terrorist raid on Uri army camp in Indian-held Kashmir, India appears to have taken a policy decision to confront Pakistan relentlessly and uncompromisingly, to the point of threats for major military action. The overwhelming national feeling in India is massively against Pakistan, and the government in Delhi has been under enormous pressure to practically go to war. There have been many such instances in the past that have involved accusations by India that Pakistan has been actively involved in terrorist attacks in India, but evidence to that effect is yet to be produced. Taking an account of the Uri Attack, which occurred before the 71st Opening of the UN General Assembly, India crossed the limits of international norms. To counter Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir, India raised the issue of Balochistan at the UN to harm Pakistan’s image globally posing her own geopolitical stratagem under the cover of ‘democratic-humanitarian concern’. The naivety exhibited here is that Balochistan is entirely a domestic issue for Pakistan, but Kashmir is an accepted agenda of the UN with various resolutions behind it, to which India has blatantly refused to act upon. India also decided to pull out of the SAARC Summit in Islamabad. Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Bhutan joined India by announcing not to attend the summit. It is not only a blow to the concept of regional integration but also hampers cooperation among regional states – all because of Indian aggressive designs.
It is an open secret that India is sponsoring Baloch separatism in Pakistan. The arrest of RAW chief operative Kulbushan Yadav in Quetta and his confession is but one instance of Indian involvement in the unrest of Balochistan. Pakistan had shared three dossiers with U.S and U.N Secretary General Ban Ki Moon containing evidences of Indian role in fuelling terrorism in Balochistan, Karachi and Tribal Areas of Pakistan. India was hoping that its strategy of tirade and fierce information warfare at the UN will isolate Pakistan but it awfully failed. Pakistan’s position on Kashmir was supported by OIC, Iranian President Rouhani who also agreed to work together with China and Pakistan on CPEC and recently by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Baku – a humiliating blow for India.
Not only externally, India is also plotting to defame Pakistan internally through its proxies. One such example is Gul Bibi who is chairperson of the Baloch Human Rights Organisation (BHRO), who claimed that 113 mutilated bodies were found dumped across Balochistan last year. Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, she revealed details of the annual report compiled by the BHRO. Ms’ Baloch said that during 2016 scores of military operations were carried out in the province’s insurgency-hit south-western parts and that 32 people had gone missing after being “arrested by the law enforcement agencies”. People like Bibi Gul are busy in putting the name of Armed Forces/ Agencies under bad light and are presenting fabricated/ concocted stories to achieve their vested interests. These allegations of Gul Baloch are baseless and are without any proof.
On the other hand people like COAS Gen Bajwa are trying their level best to fill the gap and bring back estranged Baloch elements in mainstream of the country. He, while addressing Southern Command Officers in Quetta stated that “it is my 3rd visit to Balochistan in a very short span of time, which indicates my deep love and respect for Balochi people. I belong to Baloch regmint, and I am very proud of being called as Balochi.” This address of Army Chief shows how important Balochistan is, for all Pakistanis and everyone is trying to bridge the gap between Baloch people and rest of Pakistanis and address their grievances. But organizations like BHRO, on Indian whims, are propagating anti state reports to revive the sense of deprivation among Balochi people and create rift between them and the state.
It is high time that the international community intervenes and sends a strong message to India to abandon its irresponsible behaviour and stop interfering in internal matters of Pakistan especially sabotage activities of RAW in Balochistan and other parts of the country as well, which has put regional peace and security at risk. More importantly, the international community should take the hyperbolic statements of Modi and his hawkish officials like Doval seriously. It is very unfortunate that Modi who was once not authorized to enter the U.S. because of his brutalities in Gujarat, is now acceptable to the U.S. The U.S. should assert itself and pressurize India being a strategic partner to resolve not only Kashmir issue amicably but also take notice of the human rights violations in India under the International Religious Freedom Act (1998) and put India on the list of Country of Particular Concern (CPC). For Pakistan, it is important to invest in lobbying abroad to counter India’s venomous anti-Pakistan rhetoric. It is now more important that Pakistan should strengthen its economic and strategic relations not only with China, Russia and other neighbouring countries but also with Central Asian states, European Union, African states, Latin and Central America. Finally, for not letting India to exploit Pakistan’s internal vulnerabilities, it is important that state institutions are explicit in their claims that they are on one page and we as a nation stand united.
