By Farooq Wani,
The moment news about a ceasefire agreement becoming reached amongst the Indian and Pakistan armies broke out, the ‘doves’ in India went into raptures and began demanding that New Delhi should really straight away respond in a positive manner and push forward to resolve all outstanding problems with Islamabad. The view that Pakistan appeared to be seriously smoking the peace pipe this time gained more strength when Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) announced its approval for permitting import of cotton and sugar from India. However, with Pakistan’s Federal Cabinet striking down this choice in much less than 24 hours, it is clear that optimism that Islamabad was significant about normalising relations with New Delhi was misplaced.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has defended the Cabinet’s choice on grounds that there can be no normalisation of ties till New Delhi reverses its choice to abrogate Article 370 of its constitution which gave “special status” to Jammu and Kashmir. However, considering the fact that this is specifically what Prime Minister Khan had mentioned straight away immediately after New Delhi revoked Article 370, why did ECC make the imports announcement is perplexing for two causes- one, how could ECC take a choice that violated the government’s stated position on this challenge? Two, considering the fact that ECC functions below directions of the government, how is it probable that it didn’t seek the advice of and get government approval prior to creating this announcement? Thus, it is apparent that there’s substantially more than what meets the eye!
Khan may perhaps be boasting of his government and the army becoming on the “same page,” but it is no secret that the genuine energy center of Pakistan is the army and not its legislature. So, even even though the ECC’s choice was a win-win scenario for Pakistan, the only plausible purpose for Islamabad’s volte face on the import challenge is that it didn’t suit the army’s aim of maintaining the Kashmir pot boiling. Thus, even even though irrational and embarrassing, Khan was forced by the army to overrule the ECC’s choice and this raises a query- was he and his army chief truly significant when creating grand announcements about Pakistan’s wish for peaceful neighbourly relations?
Pakistan’s track record on mending fences with India has been particularly poor. It responded to the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s peace overture via the Lahore Bus initiative by intruding across Line of Control (LoC) and occupying Indian territory in Kargil and contrary to its tall claims, Pakistan army continues to provide protected sanctuaries and nurture terrorist groups waging proxy war in J&K. Thus, Khan’s complaint that “With India, it is very unfortunate that we have tried to resolve our issues through dialogue like civilised neighbours, but it has not worked out,” is each laughable and a classic instance of kettle calling the pot black.
One may perhaps ask that if Pakistan is not significant about normalising relations with India, then why is it going about creating such hullabaloo about peace. The answer is very simple it is performing so only to befool the international neighborhood and is driven by the necessity to win favour with the US administration below Joe Biden and to impress the FATF, which has retained Pakistan on its ‘Grey List’ till June this year. At the very same time, linking normalisation of Indo-Pak relations to the reversal of Article 370 abrogation, is only to stay clear of becoming accused of obtaining compromised on the Kashmir challenge by the public at residence and separatist lobby in J&K. Certain developments in Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) are however one more purpose for this.
Pakistan has regularly been ‘leveraging’ PaK’s strategic geographic place to fulfil its strategic and financial objectives. It’s wedged amongst India and China, which are the two quickest expanding economies of the planet, but remains particularly backward and more than the years, locals have accused Pakistani safety forces of illegal encroachment. Since the previous handful of years there has also been expanding resentment against Pakistan amongst the residents of PaK and illegal annexation of Gilgit -Baltistan with Pakistan by creating it its fifth province has additional alienated the individuals.
That Pakistan is not significant about peace with India is confirmed by the sudden spurt in attacks on safety personnel and politicians in Kashmir, which has claimed seven lives immediately after the ceasefire announcement. This trend of terrorist violence is not a new phenomenon in J&K. Pakistan has regularly been encouraging such activity in order to additional its false narrative of widespread unrest in J&K as effectively as disrupt dialogue. In 2000, 35 Sikhs had been killed in Chittisinghpura village the eve of US President Bill Clinton’s state check out to India and the 2016 Pathankot air base attack came just a week immediately after Indian PM Narendra Modi met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.
The present spate of attacks come at a time when tourism in Kashmir was selecting up immediately after COVID and abrogation of Article 370. This year, tourism in Kashmir has identified an uncommon brand Ambassador in the particular person of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted, “Whenever you get the opportunity, do visit Jammu and Kashmir and witness the scenic Tulip festival. In addition to the tulips, you will experience the warm hospitality of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.” However, the surge in militant activities has naturally escalated fears amongst civilians that they will be caught in a new internet of violence, which will dent all hopes for revival of tourism. This is a matter of grave concern and the individuals of Kashmir need to have to fully grasp that such acts of violence are only hurting the locals.
In pursuance of an inimical foreign agenda, there are some who want to project Kashmir as an unsafe location. So, the individuals of Kashmir should really desist from falling into a trap becoming set by foreign sponsored propagandists to drive in a wedge amongst them, safety forces and the government. Instead of becoming misled by vested interests, Kashmiris need to have to meticulously take into consideration what is becoming fed to them and encourage progressive believed and action and the whole thrust should really be towards progress and prosperity.
India is sensitive to the truth that peace inside the neighbourhood is each critical and valuable and so it does not have any hesitation in speaking even with an adversary considering the fact that dialogue does spend dividends. It’s for this purpose that India has responded with cautious optimism by leaving all doors open. However, the road to peace can’t run roughshod more than national interest. If Pakistan stops supporting terrorism in J&K and is prepared to come to the negotiating table with a realistic agenda, then talks can progress extremely rapidly and relations normalised. However, if it continues to adhere to its fatuous and abrasive diplomacy by holding peace negotiations hostage to the Kashmir challenge, then there’s no point in India wasting its time in responding to Islamabad’s duplicitous overtures.
(The author is Editor Brighter Kashmir, Columnist, Political Analyst and Television Commentator. Email: [email protected] Views expressed are private and do not reflect the official position or policy of TheSpuzz Online.)