Daily Times

Since 1947, Pakistan-India relations have generally remained tense due to India’s unfair policies towards Pakistan. This includes Indian leaders’ statements against the creation of Pakistan, delays in and unfair distribution of assets, and illegal occupation of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir that resulted into 1947/48 war. The war ended only when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)brokered a cease fire through its 1948/49 resolutions.

Indian policies have created a perception that India was working to weaken Pakistan to endanger its existence. Pakistan further felt insecure when India did not cooperate with the UNSC to hold the plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir so that the Kashmir is could decide through a vote whether they wanted to join Pakistan or India. India’s unjust policies towards Pakistan and its hegemony-driven ambitions led to the 1965 war. India’s military aggression in 1971 in East Pakistan also dismembered Pakistan.

Then in May 1998, both countries became nuclear powers. Thus a strategic balance was created and Pakistan felt much secure against any Indian military intervention, and did not feel any fear of further harm coming to its territorial integrity. Pakistan became confident that after nuclear parity, mutual issues will be resolved through negotiations and peace will prevail in the region.

India’s RAW is sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan. This was evident when RAW operative Kulbushan Yadav, who was arrested from Balochistan, confessed to his involvement in creating unrest and sponsoring terrorism to destabilise Pakistan

But, instead of seeking a negotiated peace, India is still bent upon establishing its hegemony by pursuing an indirect strategy to undermine Pakistan’s nuclear status,and harm its integrity by destabilising it internally and weakening its economy. This Indian strategy comprises of attempts to tarnish Pakistan’s image, isolating it diplomatically, sponsoring instability in Afghanistan and blaming Pakistan to breed hostility from the US. India has been sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan to create the perception that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are unsafe. It has aslo tried to hinder Pakistan’s economic progress by sponsoring terrorist acts along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route.

To implement this strategy, India is using all means at its disposal, including its diplomacy, media houses, intelligence agencies, and its geopolitical and economic clout.

To isolate Pakistan diplomatically, Indian Prime Minister Modi has been spearheading India’s diplomatic effort to blame Pakistan for supporting terrorism in the region. In his speeches and diplomatic interactions at international forums and with world leaders, Modi invariably blames Pakistan for supporting terrorism.

Equally part of its anti-Pakistan terrorism branded diplomacy, India also refused to attend SAARC Summit 2016, which was to be held in Pakistan. This pressured other regional members, such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan to also opt out of the Summit. India is likely to do the same to disrupt the next SAARC summit scheduled in Pakistan during 2018. This is meant to distort Pakistan’s image and disturb its relations with SAARC member countries.

Indian writers and think tanks are extensively writing against Pakistan and blaming it for sponsoring terrorism. In international conferences, Indian think tanks openly propagate – without any evidence – that Pakistan supports terrorism in the region. And, now they are doing it in collaboration with US think tanks to lobby against Pakistan in the US.

Indian media also continues to carry out propaganda against Pakistan. For instance, India Today recently aired the programme India First where a conspiracy theory was propagated that Pakistan’s ISI is now roping in Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists to wage war in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian media hardly talks about India’s own state terrorism in Kashmir.

India’s RAW is sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan. This was evident when RAW operative Kulbushan Yadav, who was arrested from Balochistan, confessed to his involvement in creating unrest and sponsoring terrorism to destabilise Pakistan.

Through its sponsored publication,RAW keeps on propagating nonsense against Pakistan. Some recently negative published articles project that Pakistani terrorists are waiting near the Line of Control (LoC), and are to be launched from Lepa Valley. Another claim says that the ISI is providing protection to the co-founders of the Indian Mujahideen. And one more says that Pakistan has acquired a Chinese missile tracking system.

To counter India’s designs, so far Pakistan’s strategy has been muted. At the international level, government functionaries and media have shown reluctance in fully exposing India’s destabilising activities in the region. In this context, it is suggested, that while focusing on building economy, internal cohesion and establishing a negotiated peace in the region, Pakistan should also resolutely expose and fail India’s Pakistan-specific evil designs.

The writer is a former Army officer and former Research Fellow, Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad

Published in Daily Times, June 30^th 2018.