Indian annexation of held Kashmir: Options for govt to exercise, questions to answer

ISLAMABAD: What options Pakistan has to deal with the extreme Indian decision of annexation of the occupied Kashmir and reneging on its multiple commitments to resolve the dispute through a negotiated settlement?

The obvious ultimate aim of all the options to be taken at the international, bilateral and domestic fronts will be to force New Delhi to reverse seizure of the held Kashmir.

One course for Pakistan is to take on board its friendly countries and urge them to exert their influence on India to withdraw its assault. Prime Minister Imran Khan did the right thing to immediately talk to the top Turkish and Malaysian leaders to brief them about the gravity of the situation.

The prime minister is required to work hard to awaken the conscience of the Muslim states to the latest Indian attack. The rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates need to be specifically focused because these leaders have a good sway for having millions of Indian workers in their countries, who are sending to their homes billions of dollars every year.

Another option for Islamabad is to persuade the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to play a meaningful role to infuse sanity in India. Pakistan may encourage the OIC to take concrete measures to impel New Delhi to change its mind. Mere bombastic statements will not work against belligerent India.

Yet another course for Pakistan is to talk to permanent members of the UN Security Council particularly China to make India to take back its decision. Beijing has always stood with Islamabad in the international forums when Pakistan has been facing a difficult situation. Islamabad may also send a high-powered delegation to Britain and Russian Federation to expose the Indian strike.

The fourth option for the Imran Khan government is to close to maximum extent the domestic fronts that are causing disunity and fragmentation in the national politics. The regime needs to review its aggressive policy vis-à-vis the opposition parties. Pretty political considerations have to be sacrificed to accord preference to them at some other point of time.

Rising above party partisanship, major political forces are required to mobilize the Pakistani Diasporas in influential countries like the United States, Britain, France and the European states to expose the Indian act. They have a good say among the overseas Pakistanis who can play an important role.

Pakistan would definitely want success of these efforts but given the Indian bellicosity and intoxication of power, the Modi sarkar would not agree to retreat easily.

Apart from these options that Pakistan may explore at this tough time, there are also a number of questions that require answers. One is whether Islamabad was aware of the Indian attack beforehand or did it come as a shock? There are so far no indications that Pakistan was aware of it and came to know about it only after it happened. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has stated that he did not expect that New Delhi would embark upon this trajectory so early.

Another question is whether it is not a big failure of the foreign policy that India resorted to this dangerous action that has the potentials to fuel further tensions in the region. A day before the Indian annexation, the Islamabad-based military attaches of the powerful countries were taken to the areas near the Line of Control to show them the use of the cluster ammunition by the Indian troops.

Yet another question is as to why President Donald Trump offered mediation and the Pakistan government became jubilant over his announcement when the US administration had already been informed by the Indian leaders at least twice about its impending move to scrap Article 370 to capture the occupied Kashmir. Was it just a trap? Unfortunately, Pakistani policy makers failed to decipher the exact message from Trump’s declaration.

Wasn’t the approach of the Pakistan government naïve to the American President’s offer? Wasn’t it meant only to please Islamabad so that it extends whole-hearted cooperation to extricate Washington from the Afghan imbroglio? The regime could not read it correctly.

The sinister Indian designs are not going to stop to the mere takeover of the occupied Kashmir as New Delhi plans to do a lot more to ensure the annexation is smooth. As has been stated at different levels, the Modi government has followed the Israeli policy regarding Palestinians. After taking over the Palestinian territories, Tel Aviv, fully supported by Washington, has cornered Palestinians. The nefarious Indian plan is also to further oppress Kashmiris and take every step to crush the resistance movement.

Another possible element of the Indian strategy is to push, on Israeli pattern, the Kashmiris to go to Pakistan to live there as refugees. This way, New Delhi dreams to get all the resisting Kashmiris out of the occupied area. There is a grave danger that India may enact dramas like Pulwama to blame Pakistan.