PKKH Exclusive | by Zain ul Abedin Qasmani
There is no need to elaborate the fact that Pakistan and India have a history of bad blood since their birth. A series of wars and border altercations have further dented the prospects of achieving suitable diplomacy between the two countries. What seems common between the two is that leaders of both countries have been rather fond of preaching war instead of actually yearning for peace- especially in the recent times.
Both countries have formed new democratic governments, something which is essential in developing a proper foreign policy and promoting diplomacy. One would have anticipated for the two countries to mark the beginning of their new governments with a promising consensus between each other. Sadly, 2014 has been a year which has seemingly brought the two nations to the brink of a serious military confrontation.
Constant ceasefire violations and border skirmishes between the troops of the two neighbors have swamped the already dicey ties. What is more surprising is that the administrations of both countries deny initiating these violations and incessantly blame each other for the unrest at the Line of Control and the working boundary. It does not matter who initiated these disruptions, the response from the Indian troops has been rather severe.
In a report to the United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, Pakistan’s Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz reported the growing number of ceasefire violations from the Indian troops. 2014 has seen almost 174 violations at the Line of Control and around 60 at the working boundary. More than a thousand mortars were fired in a single week during the month of October. This rampant aggression from the Indian troops comes from the support of their government, most of which have a history of hostility towards not just Pakistanis but Muslims as a whole. Hostility might be an understatement; these are people who run their political campaigns on hate speeches against Pakistan. Also, it is common knowledge that the Indian Prime Minister was accused of orchestrating pogroms against Muslims during his stint in Gujarat, owing to his upbringing as an RSS follower.
The rest of the Indian politicians, particularly those in Prime Minister Modi’s faction, have been equally vocal in showing their resentment. Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley bluntly warned Pakistan of ‘more pain’ during the border altercations. After this, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is said to be a close affiliate of the BJP leadership, was reported to have ordered “a befitting response” in the form of increased shelling on the Pakistani troops. “Pakistan will dare not violate this ceasefire”, he further said. It was also reported that Indian troops during the course of these altercations were found to be building bunkers 500 meters inside the ceasefire territory of the working boundary; a violation of the 2010 border agreement.
The response from the Pakistani counterparts has been unfriendly as well. Pervaiz Musharaff has openly labeled the Indian Prime Minister as a Muslim hater and an enemy of the state of Pakistan. DG ISPR, Asim Bajwa, on the other hand said that the Pakistani military is capable of giving an equally stern response to the threats at the border. Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam has repeatedly taken the issue to foreign media and asked the Indian authorities to stop building bunkers inside the ceasefire territory. But perhaps the worst of these statements came from the Federal Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch, who has threatened to use the nuclear assets of Pakistan after constant intimidations from the Indian officials. “Countries possess any capability for their defense; they don’t keep it in cold storage. This can be used at the time of need”, he said.
While these may be mere wars of words, their implications can be extremely severe. Both countries are already in the middle of a nuclear arms race in South Asia. India has recently announced a budget of US$250 billion for military upgrades from the Soviet-era weaponry to a modern one. An order of 8,000 Israeli anti-tank SPIKE missiles, 300 launchers and 16 drones has already been placed. On the other hand Pakistan is already increasing its nuclear capacity and renovating its air force with the help of the Chinese and Turkish officials. But as woeful as it is, Pakistan is already busy fighting a war inside its own territory and the recent border scuffles with Iran has further aggravated the situation in the country. Indian army at this moment might have a slight advantage and perhaps that could be the reason of their elevated offensive.
The situation is already volatile but reconciliation is never impossible. Pakistani authorities need to include the UN and international allies into this debacle and reach a settlement with the Indian authorities as soon as possible. The SAARC meeting at Nepal in coming days could be the best possible forum for this purpose
Source: PKKH.tv
