Peace, security and economic progress in South Asia — which houses one-fifth of the world population — remains hostage to the Indian ambition to dominate the region. Since independence India has been projecting itself as a dominant military power exploiting geo-political fault lines, which adequately provide an insight into India’s disputes with its neighbours including Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It would not be wrong to suggest that most of the problems in South Asia stem from Indian designs to establish its hegemony in the region. The tone and course for what India has been doing since independence was well set by Jawaharlal Nehru well before the partition when in 1946, as the external minister in the interim set-up, he remarked that there were only four great powers in the world: USA, USSR, China and India. He also made no secret about India going nuclear when on June 26, 1948, he announced: “As long as the world is constituted as it is, every country will have to devise and use the latest devices for its protection. I have no doubt India will develop her scientific researches and I hope Indian scientists will use atomic force for constructive purposes. But if India is threatened, she will inevitably try to defend herself by all means at her disposal.” Non-resolution of the Kashmir dispute, over which Pakistan and India have fought three major wars and several low intensity military confrontations including Siachen and Kargil, is also attributable to Indian intransigence stoked by its hegemonic designs. That mindset is not allowing Indian leaders to remove the blinkers on their eyes and see the ground realities, notwithstanding the fact that there are a number of UN resolutions on the Kashmir dispute promising the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir, and the repeated commitments by Nehru to resolve the issue through reference to the people. It is a matter of record that India neither cared about the UN resolutions nor its commitments to the people of Kashmir. Frustrated by India’s attitude Kashmiris launched an armed struggle against Indian occupation in 1989. India ruthlessly used its military might against freedom fighters, and Indian security forces indulged in reckless and blatant violations of human rights emboldened by the promulgation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 1990, which allowed them to commit crimes against humanity with impunity. Human rights groups within India itself and international human rights organisations like the Amnesty International (AI) have been regularly documenting the situation in the Indian-held Kashmir from the perspective of human rights violations by Indian armed forces. According to these reports Indian security forces in Kashmir have killed nearly 94,000 Kashmiris during the last 26 years, raped more than 10,000 women, and killed more than 7,000 persons while in custody. The report of the AI released in 2015 gave a hair-raising review of how Indian armed forces have let loose a reign of terror against the people of Kashmir under the protection of AFSPA, particularly section 7 of the Act that grants immunity to members of the security forces from prosecution for human rights violations. The report hurled a scathing criticism at AFSPA for having created an environment of impunity for Indian security forces and enabling them to commit human rights violations without any fear of being tried. During the current uprising against India in the Indian-held Kashmir in the backdrop of the extrajudicial killing of Burhan Wani — which is more or less the continuation of the freedom struggle launched in 1989 — Indian security forces have killed more than 100 Kashmiris and injured thousands by using pellet guns. The valley remains under curfew for nearly three months. Pakistan could not remain silent on Indian atrocities, and raised its voice in support of the people of Kashmir, besides sensitising the world about Indian atrocities and human rights violations, demanding a UN probe into the unrest, as enunciated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his speech at the UN. The Indian government stunned by the intensity and scope of the uprising and with a view to erect a smokescreen over India’s inhuman crackdown on Kashmiris has been desperately trying to divert the attention of the world community from the real issue by diverting attention towards attacks in Uri and Baramulla. The ostensible motive has been to portray the freedom movement as acts of terrorism sponsored and abetted by Pakistan. The war hysteria built by the Modi government, its claims of surgical strikes and repeated violations of ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) are the ploys to achieve objectives that reflect an unending Indian hostility towards Pakistan. Pakistan’s response to Indian machinations has been calculated, precise and pragmatic. Pakistan has exploded the myth of ‘surgical strikes’ by taking media to the claimed site of the surgical strikes; the UN military observers have also said that they did not find any evidence of the claimed action by India. Consequently, not only the international media including the New York Times but also some political circles within India are now questioning the credibility of the Indian claim of a surgical strike against Pakistan. Armed forces of Pakistan are responding to Indian firing along the LoC in a befitting manner. Meanwhile, civilian and military leadership are in a constant huddle over the emerging scenario, and armed forces are fully prepared to meet any eventuality. Government has also taken the entire political leadership into confidence, which has unequivocally endorsed the steps taken by the government and the military leadership to defend the country; this was imperative to send right signals to the bellicose Indian leadership. Pakistan has also launched a diplomatic offensive to keep the Kashmir issue alive at the international level and expose Indian human rights violations in Kashmir as well as to sensitise the world about Indian involvement in acts of terrorism in Pakistan. One thinks that this strategy needs to be pursued with unrelenting intensity. Notwithstanding the foregoing events and circumstances, it is one’s considered view that India would not commit the mistake of a military confrontation with Pakistan. Our nuclear parity with India has eliminated this possibility forever. However, India would continue to keep the LoC hot to hide its crimes in Kashmir, and would also use its soft power to isolate Pakistan, for which an effective strategy and narrative needs to be evolved and propagated. If this region were to find its place in today’s changing world, it would have to come out of its geopolitical logjam. But the trust deficit within the region would not go away until India as a larger country in the region inspires confidence among its neighbours by removing their fears of its hegemonic ambitions in the region. But are we sure about India? The writer is a retired diplomat, a freelance columnist and a member of the visiting faculty of the Riphah Institute of Media Sciences, Riphah International University, Islamabad. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com