Harsha Kakar
In a recent statement to the media, the Pak foreign office spokesperson, Muhammad Faisal stated that Islamabad was ready to host the 19th SAARC summit. This comment was made after the visit of their foreign minister, SM Qureshi, to Columbo. He added that ‘only one country, India, has a problem with it and let’s see if it wants to move forward or not.’ Pakistan’s childish behaviour is responsible for Indian objections to accept attending a SAARC summit in Pak and even contemplating normalizing relations.
Post the abrogation of Article 370 on 05 Aug 19, Pak reduced diplomatic ties with India by recalling their High Commissioner, an action which ensured that all doors for talks are permanently shut. It has since then been on a diplomatic offensive to push the world to make India roll back its actions.Imran’s rambling speech at the UNGA was largely ignored as it was projecting a nuclear threat, rather than seeking a solution to a problem.
China, based on multiple requests by Pak, attempted to push through a second closed door discussion in the UN Security Council on Kashmir. This was rejected by other members, forcing China to withdraw its request. Globally it was accepted that Indian actions in Kashmir were its own internal matter. Wherever Pak has approached, it has been largely ignored. Even its close allies, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have refused to support Pakistan in this step.
Within Pakistan too, Imran’s promise of the nation standing in solidarity with Kashmir for 30 mins every Friday, lasted just one Friday. That too was a failure and the media was forced to hide reality. Its people are more concerned about rising prices and unemployment than on a Kashmir which is beyond the realm of Pak to obtain. In desperation, Imran began claiming that the world considers economy more important than human rights.
One major reason for ignoring of Pak was its duplicity in maintaining silence over human rights abuses by China in Xinjiang. By feigning ignorance there and claiming India as the villain, the reliability of Imran has faded.It also displays that Pak is doing what he accuses the world of, ignoring reality for economic gains. The world is aware of Chinese brutality on its own Muslim population, which Imran and other Muslim nations have not only ignored but even supported.
With the passage of the Citizen Amendment Bill (CAB) in the Indian Parliament, an action which is of no concern to Pakistan, Imran and his cronies commenced criticising the same. They suddenly realized that they represent global Muslims, a voice they forgot in Xinjiang. This attitude conveys that they have more interest in Indian actions, rather than resolving multiple problems facing their own country.
Once again, Imran was akin to a lone wolf howling in Yellowstone Park, unheard and ignored. His daily tweets have only been accepted by his people, not world leaders. The Indian Government replied stating that instead to looking towards India, Imran should care for his own minorities, ill treatment of whom compelled India to consider this bill. Imran was internationally trolled for his foolish comments.
At Geneva, addressing the Global Refugee Forum, Imran stated that the abrogation of Article 370 would lead to a large influx of Indian Muslim refugees from Kashmir into Pak, which would be beyond the capability of Pak to handle. This surprised the world as not a single Indian has sought refugee status in Pak in seventy years, despite any incident or event in India, other than criminals like Dawood Ibrahim or Hafeez Saeed.
Even the anti-Indian Hurriyat or Kashmir political leaders, despite everything would prefer remaining in India than Pak. They are aware that India has far more to offer than a debt-ridden Pak. On the contrary movement of population has been in the reverse, with Pak nationals either overstaying in India or seeking Indian citizenship.
Their ministers have taken a decision to boycott all speeches made by Indian representatives in conferences where both nations are present. The walking out of Qureshi during the address of General VK Singh (Retd) at the Heart of Asia Conference in Turkey was a recent case in point. On this incident their foreign spokesperson stated, ‘Pakistan will again boycott India in future, as well, whenever [it is] required.’ This may impress local Pak audiences, however in an international forum, it indicates childish and immature behaviour.
All negative actions have been adopted by Pak, knowing that there is nothing which they can do to compel India to reverse its decisions. They are aware that there is no military solution. They have threatened nuclear war and warned the world of genocide or even of retaliating to Indian actions. On the contrary, there has been peace in the Valley.
Pakknows that globally they are the discredited nation. The release of the Afghanistan Documents by the Washington Post showed that even today the top leadership in the US is aware of Pakistan’s duplicity on Afghanistan. Recent comments by Senator Lindsay Graham indicates that the US is aware of the shelter being provided by Pak to the Taliban. The US even ticked off Pakistan for misusing the F 16 in Feb. Thus, globally Pak is discredited, while Indian remains relevant.
Pak is being further discredited by its own behaviour against India, rather than Indian actions. If it desires to regain its credibility it needs to get its politicians to act maturely, control their rhetoric and display fairness in comments. The question remains, is the Pak government mature enough to act or does it comprise of childish elements?If it acts in a mature manner, controls its support to terrorism, there could be some positive movement in reducing tensions, if not, it would remain the loser.
The author is Major General (Retd)
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