Pakistan Army Spokesman Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor has recently cleared the dust that was gathering around the country’s foreign policy horizons, stating that we are not bound to no-first-use mantra about our nuclear weapons. His statement has followed heightening hostilities in occupied Kashmir by the Modi government and repeated hurling of threats of war by Indian ministers.
Extremist Hindus have long been beating war drums without taking into consideration the peace overtures extended to the world by Pakistan. Every non-Hindu in India is under threat and Kashmir has acquired the status of the world’s biggest jail. The valley has been placed under curfew since last month and all communication channels have been cut. Media has been muffled and the few voices that manage to break from small cracks give a message of profound tragedy and sorrow. A video has jolted the world showing long portions of a road in occupied Kashmir smeared with human blood. Constantly, images of closed markets and heavy presence of army loaded with lethal guns have been splashed all over international media.
The military spokesperson has given a clear message to Modi that Pakistan army is ready to fight for Kashmir till the last bullet and the last man standing. Some critics juxtapose his statement with the one that Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a few days ago, stating that Pakistan will be committed to no-first-use policy. They try to draw the conclusion that the statements contradict each other, which is bad for our foreign policy.
At this point in time, we could say that both these statements are interlinked and a response of changing developments on the Kashmir dispute. Pakistan will adhere to the status quo if India does too. But if India continues with its jingoism, Pakistan is under no obligation to sit back and watch. Rather it is our responsibility to stand up and stop the rot by whatever means available to us.
But is Pakistan is ready to share its responsibility by stopping an oppressor from extending aggression to settled parts of the world? Will the world also feel its responsibility and act for protection of human lives and rights that Modi has endangered in occupied Kashmir? *
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