The past one week turned out to be quite eventful from Islamabad’s perspective. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s surprisingly warm reception at the White House and Capitol Hill received astounding applause from most well-wishers and critics alike. While it could evidently be linked to the ongoing Afghan peace process; factually speaking, PM Khan’s long known skills to establish personal rapport did play a key role.
The rally attended by an estimated crowd of 30,000 Pakistani-American and other community members at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena was the cherry on top which signalled that the prime minister is a force to be reckoned with. Of course, it was a strategic decision by his allies for neutralising not only the opposition’s onslaught back home but also to cement a positive impression amongst DC’s movers and shakers. In other words, it was a carefully crafted move to project Pakistan’s soft power at a time when deep mistrust had plagued United States-Pakistan ties for over a decade.
The icing on the cake was US President Donald Trump’s startling claim regarding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged request for mediation on Kashmir which provoked an almost immediate backlash from South Block and Noida some 10,000 kilometres away. While it caused much uproar there with PM Modi still keeping mum, Islamabad remained more than satisfied (and so did the Srinagar-based Hurriyat and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaderships). PM Khan played his cards eloquently which trumped Indian diplomats’ years-long efforts to keep Kashmir out of the equation. Indeed, their heavy investment in DC’s lobbying circles was meant to contain Islamabad making inroads. It got dented if not sabotaged by a single statement from President Trump. His personal characteristics may be the talk of the town on almost daily basis, but US State Department’s tacit backing signify how important Islamabad has become for the Trump Administration.
The internationalisation of Kashmir was something which New Delhi wished to avoid at all cost and hide behind the July 1972 Shimla Agreement and UN Security Council’s (UNSC) Resolution 1172 adopted in June 1998. A pattern suggests that it does not wish to resolve Kashmir and forcefully claim it as an ‘integral part’ of India. But then, we are reminded of the previously proposed Chenab and Four-Point formulas. So where does the problem lie? Perhaps, the self-denial and haphazard approaches on part of New Delhi. Subsequently, PM Modi will have to clarify sooner than later on what exactly transpired during talks between him and President Trump.
For the people of Indian-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IoK), President Trump’s statement may be welcoming, but their plights have amplified exponentially. The Indian government’s recent decision to deploy 100 additional companies of troops in the restive valley was met with intense furore amongst the locals.
Rumours of abrogating Articles 35A and 370–which grant special status to the region– have intensified over the past several months. Should that ever happen, it would instantly engulf in an unending fire that would continue to haunt Indian policymakers for years to come. The 2018 and 2019 UN human rights reports expose the nature of their policies which are nothing short of a systematic genocide.
The region’s plight can only be resolved through third party intervention in which global players such as the United States and China can play a pivotal role. Kashmiris have suffered for far too long and the time has come for a meaningful resolution through the right to self-determination that can pave way to a lasting peace in South Asia.
The writer is a journalist specialising in foreign policy and national security affairs