Daily Times

For the last five years, Narendra Modi’s foreign policy is based on playing politics to weaken Pakistan-militarily, diplomatically and economically. To divert Indian people’s attention from his failing economic and other policies, Modi has also been creating war hysteria by blaming Pakistan for ‘supporting terrorism’ in the Indian-occupied Kashmir and dubbing Kashmiris’ peaceful freedom struggle as terrorism. To win the 2019 elections, Modi also arranged a drama of Indian fighter aircrafts attacking a bare ground in Pakistan, calling it a terrorist training camp. That ended with a strong response from Pakistan’s airforce, downing two Indian fighter jets and arresting an Indian pilot. However, Modi won the elections based on his Hindutva-led politics and by making anti-Pakistan election speeches.

For weakening Pakistan militarily, Prime Minister Modi started playing the politics of blaming Pakistan for supporting terrorism in the region by uttering this allegation in his speeches at all world forums. To prove the allegation, while India was using its intelligence agencies to sponsor terrorist attacks in Afghanistan as well as in the Indian-occupied Kashmir, India was blaming Pakistan for sponsoring those terrorist incidents. It was being done with the objective that the US and other western powers should become hostile to Pakistan, and Pakistan should be declared a terrorist state, with the ultimate aim to harm its nuclear status.

But due to Pakistan’s patient and resilient foreign and defence policies, its brave and successful war against terrorism, and its recent efforts to facilitate the US-Taliban talks in Doha, Qatar, ultimately, the international opinion about Pakistan has turned in its favour. It appears that the US and its western partners have come to realise that apart from India, their relations with Pakistan are also important for attaining and keeping peace and stability in Afghanistan and Central Asia. Therefore, Modi’s efforts to weaken Pakistan militarily have badly failed.

To weaken Pakistan’s economy, India sponsored terrorism in Balochistan and in the FATA area using the Afghan soil, to discourage foreign investors to invest in Pakistan and to undermine the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. India also constantly misled the western powers regarding Pakistan’s sincerity to fight the war on terror related to Afghanistan, to bring Pakistan under economic sanctions. Being a member of the FATF’s Pacific Group, India is now misleading the FATF member countries about Pakistan’s anti-money laundering efforts to curb funding to terrorist organisations, to move it from the FATF grey list to the blacklist.

Simultaneously, Modi started a campaign to diplomatically isolate Pakistan in the region as well as at the international level. At the regional level, India started to make the SAARC summits fail by not attending and also pressurising its smaller neighbours to do the same. India is now focussing on a sub-regional organisation, BIMSTEC, of which India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka are members. But being SAARC members, these smaller countries are also keeping good relations with Pakistan; these states also want to revive SAARC. Hence, India has failed to isolate Pakistan at the regional level.

At the international level, India has also failed to isolate Pakistan as no major power has bought Modi’s propaganda, and all powers including the US, the UK, EU, and Russia are advancing their relations with Pakistan, while China is maintaining an all-weather friendship with Pakistan.

India’s belligerence in Jammu and Kashmir with the abrogation of Articles 35A and 370 of the Indian Constitution, keeping the Kashmir valley under curfew for the last 52 days, and arresting of Kashmiri leaders have not been supported by the international community. Most major powers are telling Modi to lift the curfew, free Kashmiri leaders and resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute through dialogue with Pakistan.

For the last five years, Narendra Modi’s foreign policy is based on playing politics to weaken
Pakistan-militarily, diplomatically and economically

As Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khanhas resolutely pursued his Kashmir policy of convincing the US and other major powers to mediate in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, his efforts are likely to succeed in a reasonable time. Ultimately, India will be compelled to either accept the foreign mediation or resolve the issue by holding a dialogue with Pakistan. This possibility is likely to be further strengthened as now most of the Kashmiris being totally alienated from India because of Modi’s recent autocratic Kashmir policy will further intensify their freedom struggle through a peaceful non-cooperation movement.

Moreover, President Donald Trump has offered, for the third time,to mediate on Kashmir, and since India is reluctant to accept any mediation, Trump has now asked both Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir dispute by holding a bilateral dialogue.

Hence, in view of the above-given points, it is quite evident that Modi’s belligerence against Pakistan and Kashmiris is failing.

The writer is a former Research Fellow of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, and Senior Research Fellowof Strategic Vision Institute, Islamabad