Daily Times

The joint statement issued at the end of Narendra Modi’s visit to the US while reiterating the expansion of ties between the two countries and reinforcing the strategic cooperation between them, did not miss the opportunity to take a swipe at Pakistan concerning terrorism. The portion of the joint statement relating to terrorism said, “The United States and India stand together to counter global terrorism and unequivocally condemn terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations.”

“Prime Minister Modi and President Biden reiterated the call for concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups including Al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizb-ul-Mujhahideen. They strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks. They called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks to be brought to justice.”

As a ritualistic exercise, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has termed the reference in the joint statement against Pakistan as unwarranted, misleading and contrary to diplomatic norms fraught with political overtones adding that the cooperative spirit to defeat terrorism has been sacrificed at the altar of geopolitics. Some parliamentarians and minister for foreign affairs while speaking in the National Assembly also took exception to what transpired in the meeting between President and Modi with reference to Pakistan. That is all Pakistan could do and has been doing.

This is not the first time that USA and India in their interactions have repeated these allegations against Pakistan. The joint statement issued after parleys between Modi and President Trump during his last visit to the USA harped on the same tune.

Pakistan, as a front-line state against the war on terror, has suffered the most in terms of men and material.

Reportedly US-India Counter Terrorism Joint Working Group and Designations Dialogue in a joint statement on 10 September 2019 also called upon Pakistan to take immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control was used for terrorist attacks, and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot. It also denounced the use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism in all its forms.

It is also pertinent to point out that the US state department in its annual report on terrorism for the year 2019 released recently had also made similar accusations against Pakistan. The report observed, “Pakistan continued to serve as a haven for certain regionally focused terrorist groups. It allowed groups targeting Afghanistan, including the Afghan Taliban and affiliated HQN, as well as groups targeting India, including LeT and its affiliated front organizations, and JeM, to operate from its territory. Pakistan took modest steps in 2019 to counter terror financing and to restrain some India-focused militant groups following the February attack on a security convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir claimed by Pakistan-based JeM.”

The reality is that the protestations by Pakistan have failed to create any impact on the anti-Pakistan nexus between USA and India. There is no doubt that Pakistan, as a front-line state against the war on terror, has suffered the most in terms of men and material. It has taken decisive and indiscriminate action against the terrorist entities based on its soil and also played a pivotal role in the decimation of Al-Qaida. Pakistan also took wide-ranging steps to implement FATF demands in regard to curbing money laundering and terror financing, the steps which have also been recognized by FATF. It has also made a sterling contribution to promoting the peace process in Afghanistan that eventually led to the peace deal between the US and the Taliban which also paved the way for intra-Afghan dialogue.

The world community is aware of what Pakistan has done to check terrorism in its tracks and the sacrifices rendered by her which have sporadically also been acknowledged by the US political and military leadership. But when it comes to India their vision and sense of fairness becomes blurred. They fail to see the state terrorism practised by India in promoting acts of terrorism within Pakistan and supporting the insurgency in Balochistan which has been corroborated by the confessions made by Kalbhushan Jhadav during the investigations. Even the ICJ has not challenged the allegations against him and the punishment given to him.

The US and its allies look the other way while India is engaged in illegal actions in IO&JK and continues to persecute the people of the state with impunity and without international pressure. India is a strategic partner of the trio of US, UK and France whom they are propping up as a regional superpower to advance the objective of ‘contain China’ policy. As long as India continues to do their bidding they will keep the blinkers on their eyes and have their ears stuffed.

The US-India strategic partnership besides being anti-China is also anti-Pakistan and the countries with which India is at loggerheads. USA and India are also engaged in sabotaging CPEC. The US also played a role in having Pakistan put on the grey list in 2018. The US and her allies are also supporting the Indian bid for a permanent seat in the UNSC. The US has signed civil nuclear technology deal with India in contravention of the provisions of NPT and also helped India to get an NSG waiver.

The fact of the matter is that the USA has never been a friend of Pakistan in spite of Pakistan being its ally. It has used Pakistan to advance its global strategic interests. My considered view is that it was a grave mistake on the part of our policy strategists to fall in the lap of the USA in the early fifties against a next-door superpower for which we ultimately suffered irretrievably. No matter what we do the US will remain pro-India. We should not be expecting any good from her. Our dilemma is that we cannot afford a rupture in relations with the USA and perforce have to remain engaged with her. Incurring her displeasure could be harmful to Pakistan in many ways. Nevertheless, Pakistan needs a serious rethinking of her ties with the US and put greater emphasis on seeking solutions to her security and strategic issues within the region where it belongs. Setting its own house in order must take precedence over all other things.

As far as Kashmir is concerned, despite the success of Pakistan’s diplomatic offensive in sensitizing the world about the illegality of the Indian actions in IO&JK that led to the rejection of the Indian narrative of it being an internal issue and the acknowledgement by UNSC that Kashmir dispute needed to be resolved in conformity with principles of UN charter and the relevant resolutions, I do not see any possibility of any progress regarding the resolution of the dispute in the foreseeable future in the permeating global political environment.

The writer is a former diplomat and freelance columnist.