Daily Times

Due to the evolving ties with China and the ever so perpetual contention with India, Pakistan can view the Indo-China impasse at Ladakh through the “Chinese lens.” Pakistan has been going through a proxy war of its own against the Indian “cold start” doctrine and the conflict at Ladakh proves to be a game-changer for Pakistan and Kashmir. This time, as the Chinese try to remove the fake masquerade of peace, of from India’s face, the aftershocks of the conflict are going to be felt throughout the South Asian region, especially in Kashmir, albeit in a very favourable manner.

The current skirmish seems to be quite a favourable one for Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan can also use this opportunity to fortify its influence in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which has been within the icy grips of lockdown for months following the rescinding of the article 370 that guaranteed the region’s autonomy. Moreover, parts of the Kashmir region are controlled and administered by China, too, including in Ladakh. Now, the claims of Chinese encompassing in Ladakh have brought China and India to deadlock. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has rightly said that the China-India clash in Ladakh was not the real issue. Instead, the Kashmir conflict is the root cause of all problems in the region. The question of Kashmir has stymied relations between India and Pakistan from the very beginning. Now it is undermining ties between China and India. India claims Kashmir in its entirety and does not want any external mediation over the issue – not even from the United States, its ally in the region. Pakistan, however, calls Kashmir a disputed territory and has encouraged international intervention. Now the Chinese and Indian standoff at Ladakh give credence to Pakistan’s claim that Kashmir is indeed disputed.

India has spent over 100 billion dollars in its quest to become a military might; if only India could have saved money and actually did a peace talk once in their history

India has strongly opposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The multi-billion project serves as the flagship of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), from the very outset. As CPEC passes through Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, India has been colluding with the United States, which has its qualms about Chinese influence in Pakistan, to disrupt the project. Meanwhile, India has been carrying out infrastructure construction and other schemes in its section of Kashmir. This led to border clashes as India ludicrously blames China and Pakistan for being intruders in the Kashmir region, while in reality, it is India that should be held responsible for escalating tensions. With the recent deadly run-in between Chinese and Indian troops in Ladakh, the situation has reached a dead-end, with seemingly no way out. A peaceful way could be through dialogue but the Indian overconfidence and blind trust on their military have got them now in a very precarious situation. India has spent over 100 billion dollars in its quest to become a military might; if only India could have saved money and actually did a peace talk once in their history.

This episode at Ladakh is also acting like a slow poison for the current Modi regime. Just as Modi publicly threatened Pakistan and gave anti-Pakistan speeches, Indians were in an illusion; thinking that China would be dealt easily but that wasn’t the case. This has led many nationalists, as well as opposition parties in India, to bash Modi over the Ladakh fiasco. In retrospective, the deadlock at Ladakh is precisely the result of Indian nationalism against China. India’s defeat at the hands of Chinese in 1962 is still fresh in Indian minds, and the half-hearted attempt to mushroom in infrastructure along the disputed border was likely the underhanded attempt to prevent another embarrassing loss – this is the real face of India, hidden behind layers and layers of the ersatz and faux embodiment of peace. In other words, as far as Beijing is concerned, New Delhi’s opposition to CPEC going through Pakistan-administered-Kashmir is now merely academic. This would all be welcome news for Pakistan.

Modi’s neighbourhood-first policy seems to be burned into ashes as it has now locked horns in border disputes with not only Pakistan and China but with its traditional friend Nepal as well. India and Nepal are also engaged in what experts have called the cartographic war. China’s military strategy, the disputed border is a “secondary strategic direction.” By maintaining stability along the Indian border, China is focusing its military power toward the “main strategic direction” on Taiwan and the Western Pacific. On the other hand, China is fighting against India on cyber warfare and electronic warfare. Therefore, China always wants to keep the status quo, Beijing realizes that India is not China’s real enemy despite the United States’ attempts to bring India into its Indo-Pacific strategy to counter a rising China.

The Indians have highly flaunted over their formation of Quad – the strategic alliance formed to safeguard maritime commons between India, US, Australia and Japan. These countries know how much of the whole world knows that the COVID 19 has now brought an odd dependence on China. Moreover, China is an economic superpower and staying neutral in this dispute at Ladakh is the justest and most intelligent thing to do. For South Asian countries, India has been a hostile neighbour and its current border disputes with China and Nepal have exposed her hegemonic designs. India has a consistent record of bad behaviour and creating border disputes with all its neighbours. Even on a national scale, India has been nothing but an oppressor with illegally acquiring areas like Junagarh, Goa and even Nagaland. This skirmish at Ladakh may just be the catalyst for Nagaland to break free as well. If we try heading south, we will also observe that the Indian militarily has even intervened in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Not only that but it has also stationed permanent forces in Bhutan, and has water disputes with Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. Keeping all this in retrospective, it can be inferred that India is going to be dealt a brutal death blow on an international scale.

The writer is a freelance journalist and columnist based in Islamabad