Daily Times

Sir: Till recently North Korea was a pariah. USA could only talk to them through China. Then Trump arrived and in his gung-ho attitude, he decided to skip all the red tape and take on Kim Jong Un face to face.

He even went as far as to set up a hotline between himself and Kim, so that they could communicate about any problems that might arise in a timely fashion. This prompted China to take steps in order to ensure that their own ‘special’ relationship with N. Korea is not threatened in any way. That is the way the world works; each nation out to fulfill their own agendas first, before moving on to geopolitical issues.

India’s internal and external policies are in a state of flux. With their 2019 general elections only a few months away, the Congress has resorted to wooing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an extremist Hindu faction. Many political leaders, including former President Pranab Mukherjee, have taken to attending their various rallies and meetings.

When this was pointed out, Congress highlighted Jawaharlal Nehru’s 20 minute meeting at Teen Murti House on August 30, 1949, with the then leader of the RSS, MS Golwalkar. Even though many of Nehru’s close followers, including BR Ambedkar told him to avoid the RSS due to their opposition to universal adult franchise, equality for women and Dalits, equal rights for minorities, and even modern science, he still went ahead with the meeting due to their great political influence in India. Pakistan could also have learned from this interaction, in order to deal with the Taliban and other radical forces threatening the peace in the country.

India has been developing their relationship with the US in recent times. Having been opposed to so many countries due to their ‘extremist’ policies, it is surprising to see the US silent on India’s behavior in Kashmir. Having failed to control the freedom movement there, the Indian Army has resorted to heinous acts to control the local population, yet the plight of the Kashmiris goes unnoticed by the people in power.

Instead, India is all set to sign several deals with the USA during talks between dignitaries from both sides, including Foreign Minister of India Sushma Swaraj, Defence minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis. Several agreements are set to be signed at this time, including deals for a F/A-18 ‘Super Hornet’ or a F-16 fighter production line to be set up in India.

The sale of six Boeing Apache attack helicopters, for a combined total of $930 million has also been approved, while India will also spend over $2 Billion in purchasing 24 Sikorsky S-70B multi-role naval choppers, with potent anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

The two countries have also agreed to conduct joint military exercises, along with war-games including the Japanese military. These will be conducted near Malabar (Vajra Prahar and Yudh Abhyas) and comes in light of India’s recent war-games with Russia at Vladivostok last year.

One bone of contention that was raised by India was the US government’s new initiative called CAATSA or Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanction Act. It targets countries buying weapon systems from Russia, however in this case, the US agreed to give India a pass and let their recent purchase of $12 billion worth of ‘inventory’ proceed without a hitch.

At the moment India is facing a tough situation. Even though they desperately want to retain the goodwill of the US as their improving relationship has been quite advantageous for both sides, they are also wary of America’s stance against many of India’s close allies, like Russia and Iran. They also want to continue their weapons purchases from Russia, keep investing in Iran’s Chabahar port and hope that the US ignores their various human-rights violations against the people of Kashmir, as well as the Sikhs in the country. Pakistan could use their current position in order to exploit the Indians, and disgrace them in the international community.

MOHAMMAD ASAD MALICK

Islamabad

Published in Daily Times, June 26^th 2018.