Aisha Saeed
Since Imran Khan took charge of Pakistan and entrusted the country’s foreign policy in competent hands, multiple challenges started to emerge both on domestic and foreign fronts. What was not expected of Khan, however, was his ability to steer the ship single-handedly when required.
Pakistan and India have been at loggerheads over a myriad dispute. The major bone of contention, however, is Kashmir; over which the belligerents have fought three wars and Imran Khan is attempting to thwart a fourth.
While India refers to Kashmir as its integral part, Pakistan has always called the Indian occupation as illegal and maintained that Kashmir is a disputed territory, which is to be dealt as per various UN resolutions.
India’s rigid stance and extremist policies with regards to quashing indigenous uprising in Kashmir have led to the issue being dragged for over 70 years. The Indian move of revoking Article 370 and 35A of their constitution, which gives Kashmir a special status, has further deteriorated the security situation of the region.
For Pakistan, there is a dire need to critically evaluate and monitor the situation in Kashmir and not just rely on others to settle this dispute.
To give a semblance of legitimacy to the annexation of Kashmir, the Indian Govt crafted Article 370 in 1954, which accorded the valley a special status. Meanwhile, article 35A empowered Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) state legislature to define permanent residents and prohibited non-residents from purchasing land, obtaining govt jobs and marrying locals.
The government of India thought the move would go unnoticed by Pakistan and the world.
India had planned to capitalize on the global community’s callousness towards Kashmir and present this action as a fait accompli. Once the initial melee would subside, no one would care about the future of Kashmir and it would be legally India’s integral part. Since India believed that Pakistan did not possess the economic and military prowess to fight for Kashmir, it would just use its influence to neutralize Pakistan’s diplomatic overtures. These efforts were seen on numerous occasions including the UN sessions. In this regard, Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan are often used by India to counter Pakistan’s Kashmir narrative.
But by unilaterally revoking the spec status of disputed territory and enforcing draconian laws, India’s image globally has taken a hit. The farce of world’s largest democracy has begun to unveil as the world brings its attention to the Indian brutalities in Kashmir where the siege has exceeded 50 days. From many western governments to western media editorials, Kashmir has become a major topic of discussion.
India has, therefore, inadvertently brought Kashmir to the fore again and Modi is struggling to save his country’s image.
Tensions on the Line of Control (LOC,) intense shelling and use of cluster bombs on civilian population of Azad Kashmir by India has escalated an already tense environment between two nuclear-armed nations. Moreover, by diverting Pakistan’s attention to its eastern border, India is also adding hurdles in the Afghan peace process where New Delhi’s role is largely ignored.
India plans to execute what some call a ‘weapon of mass migration’, where massive demographic change would be carried out alongside ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Kashmir. Gradually, when the demography of the region would be altered, a charade of a plebiscite would then provide them with the much-coveted legitimacy.
One nuance which might skip the eyes is the bifurcation of J&K to J&K and Laddakh, making Laddakh a separate Union Territory. While India faces strong opposition in Kashmir valley, the Buddhist majority of Ladakh welcomed the decision. This will help India consolidate the region which connects it to Siachen glacier and gives it strategic leverage.
To effectively counter India, the Ministry of Information in consonance with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) needs to make a Kashmir Cell. This cell is to include members of the three organizations and media outlets. Effective coverage should then be given to mass rallies and peaceful protests across the world. Moreover, Pakistani diaspora must be galvanized through our embassies to come out and highlight the issue across the globe.
Indian minorities and diaspora, especially the Sikh community in Canada and the UK, can also be engaged in this regard.
While Pakistan has legitimate concerns over the situation in Kashmir, other regional challenges are not yet over for Pakistan. Afghanistan’s peace progress hit a wall and resulted in a fallout between the US and the Taliban. Pakistan, that played an integral part in talks, saw the stability in Afghanistan as a relief on its one front. But if Imran Khan wants, he can pave the new way of peace in Afghanistan through Pakistan by making Trump take action rather than just offering mediation. Imran, however, seems hesitant to engage so impudently with the US in fears of triggering another war that might engulf Pakistan. Khan’s ‘not a trigger happy’ policy is being praised but the generals are prepared to handle the worst.
With Afghanistan, India wants to keep the US and Pakistan occupied to slow down Pakistan’s political and diplomatic efforts of keeping Kashmir on the front pages. Here, Pakistan is only forced to take precautions as it cannot afford mistrust by its American counterpart.
Adding to its uneasiness, the situation in the Middle East is making Pakistan walk a tight rope. The Saudi Crown Prince’s admiration for Imran Khan gives a retro image of Bhutto and the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. With an attack on the oil facility and the US being on standby to assist Saudi in defence, the matters with Iran and Yemen have resurfaced. Formerly, the Pakistan Air Force reportedly flew aircraft of the Royal Saudi Air Force to repel an incursion from South Yemen during the 1969s. Later, Engineers from Pakistan Army had built Saudi fortifications along its border with Yemen as agreed in the defence cooperation. But now, Pakistan cannot head with a single-sided policy in the Middle East.
To diffuse the tensions, Pakistan can propose a non-military solution to Saudi Arabia, on the similar lines of that it has given to the US for Afghanistan. Pakistan can continue to assist KSA in its security and defence ventures while trying to keep its Iran and Yemen policy as a matter of bilateral relations. Pakistan should also attempt to promote religious harmony between Iran and KSA. The oil-diplomacy that Pakistan largely has with KSA makes attacks on the petroleum facilities a troubling factor for its oil supply and relations with Iran along with it.
Kashmir has always been the highlight of Indo-Pak relations and a major stumbling block in regional stability. Pakistan must leave no stone unturned in highlighting the issue to the world and thwarting Indian designs in denying Kashmiris their just right of self-determination. But while Khan has become Kashmir’s spokesperson, his entourage in foreign affairs must dispose of every resource to maintain Pakistan’s own vision and formulate different policies to overcome the challenges at hand. Under Imran Khan, Pakistan’s diplomatic stage seems bright.
