Indian opposition to CPEC

The Indian government’s support for Baloch sub-nationalists has been on the rise, authoritative sources have revealed. As it is, the world already knows that India is openly supporting the Separate Balochistan movement by spreading anti Pakistan propaganda.

It has been disclosed that with the Indian support, the Free Balochistan Movement, which is headed by Harbiyar, organized a protest rally in Gottingen, Germany, on the eve of the Chinese National Day on Sept 30th, 2017. In order to sabotage CPEC, the sub-nationalists carried out Indian-sponsored false propaganda about China’s 'new colonialism' and alleged human rights violations in Balochistan. 

The Baloch Student Organization-Azad (BSO) also organised a demonstration outside the British PM’s residence in London on Oct 1, 2017 against Pakistan and CPEC in Balochistan.

Before that, Ahmar Masti Khan's 'American Friends of Balochistan' organized an event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on Aug 25, 2017. The event was titled “Politics Behind Assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti”. The speakers included a former ambassador of Pakistan besides Nawab Brahamdagh Bugti, President of Baloch Liberation Army (via skype from Switzerland), Nawab Mehran Marri, chief of the Marri tribe and president of the Balochistan House, Hammal Haider, international spokesperson for the Balochistan National Movement, Banuk Kareema Baluch, President Baloch Students Organization (Azad) and Ahmar Masti Khan, Convener of American Friends of Balochistan. They promoted the theory that Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed because Pakistan Army and China did not have good intentions towards CPEC, Gwadar and Balochistan’s natural resources. 

However, the mainstream US media and credible organizations in USA do not take Ahmar Masti Khan seriously. The aim of Ahmar Masti Khan is to malign Pakistan's armed forces and China.

Sources said that the Baloch Liberation Front was even threatening the mainstream media in the country through pamphlets. In this regard, they pointed out a press release by the BLF dated October 9, 2017, published in Daily Tawar, an online newspaper.

Moreover, the Indian government has established the Hind-Baloch Forum in India with Pawan Sinha President of the forum while Swami Jitendranad Sarswati is its General Secretary. On June 20, 2017, the forum organised its first event, a seminar titled "How Indians can play a role in the freedom struggle of Balochistan" at Hotel Howard Plaza, Fatehabad Road, Agra. Speakers on the occasion included Maj Gen (retd) G 0 Balohi, ex RAW director Col RSN Singh, Pushpendra Kulshrestha, bureau chief of a local TV channel, and Govind Sharma, Gen Secretary, Ganga Mahasabha. The forum is now planning more such activities. 

It is very much likely that India will use such forums like the Hind-Baloch Forum to gain support of anti-Pakistan elements, create unrest in Balochistan and project the Balochistan issue at the international level to create impediments for CPEC projects. As an effort to move the Balochistan issue centre-stage, Baloch separatist leaders mostly visit New Delhi and Kabul where they are hosted and taken care of. 

China has dismissed India’s concerns over its Belt and Road initiative, saying the mega venture has broad international support and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Reacting to India’s reservations over the CPEC, a flagship project of China’s prestigious One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, the Chinese foreign ministry recently said over 100 countries and organisations were already involved in the venture. “The Belt and Road initiative was proposed in 2013, and four years on, over 100 countries around the world and international organisations have supported and got involved in this initiative,” the foreign ministry said. 

It should be clear to all that while raising the issue of Balochistan, maligning both Pakistan and China, India's larger strategic game is unlikely to succeed both in short and long terms.