Kashmir: Do USA and China misuse India and Pakistan?
-Dr. Abdul Ruff
_____
At
the outset, USA and China are big economic powers enjoying UN veto status while
India and Pakistan are third world countries with a conflict over an alien Kashmir
and seeking the support of veto members to justify their individual positions
over Kashmir. As they try ot influence USA and China, the South Asian nuclear
powers are obviously being misused by the veto powers for their own advantages.
India remains the major threat to Pakistan, an ally of NATO to target Muslims
and insult Islam. Having lost the support of USA which now tries to oblige
India to get its Asia Pivot agenda to contain China, Pakistan has long shifted
its focus on China, seeking long-term strategic framework agreement between
them as long as possible for enhancing defence and security cooperation.
The division of South Asia into a Muslim Pakistan and a Hindu India has served as
a mechanism for maintaining US imperialist domination of the whole region.
India has suppressed and attacked Muslims, even denying their legitimate
rights, the way it wants and incite communalism and nationalism so as to
deflect social anger over the failure of criminalized capitalism. Of course the
rich thrives in both Pakistan and India as elsewhere in the region. Now this
explosive conflict is becoming ever more inextricably intertwined with the
confrontation between US and China, adding to each a massive new incendiary
charge.
USA has converted Pakistan into an unstable of client state to serve only
exclusive US interests.
Balochistan is critical to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a
massive infrastructure connectivity project, which Beijing is supporting with
$46 billion in investments. At the heart of the CPEC is the building of a
network of pipeline, rail, and road links connecting Balochistan’s Arabian Sea
port of Gwadar with western China.
When Modi assumed office in May 2014, he made a show of seeking closer ties
with Pakistan and relaunching the long-stalled India-Pakistan “comprehensive
peace dialogue.” Modi said was intent on changing the “rules of the game” with
Pakistan. But it quickly emerged that as part of his government’s more
assertive pursuit of India’s great power ambitions to showcase to the west its
hold over the region, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. Pakistan saw through
Indian new game as Modi instructed Indian military commanders to take a more
aggressive stance in cross-border firing incidents along the disputed Line of
Control (LOC) in Kashmir, leading in 2015 to the most serious military clashes
in a decade.
India’s increased aggressiveness towards Islamabad is being fuelled by the
military-strategic boost it is receiving from USA which has elevated India to
the status of “Major Defense Partner,” and has begun co-developing
weapons-systems with India, is actively supporting India in increasing economic
and strategic ties with East Asia and Africa, and is trying – at least as a
mere show - to gain it admittance to the Nuclear Suppliers Group in defiance of
the current rules. Both USA and India failed badly and is angry with China. And
all shuttle diplomatic encounters Modi made across the globe also failed, wasting
Indian tax money. India considers everything at par cricket where batboys get
100s and 50s as per game rule conventions.
.
Even
though “cooperation’ has not worked in its favor, India still does not want to
lose its image of being a US strategic ally though meant only for some little
benefits. Without US companionship India might feel depressed as it loses
advantages with Pakistan. But Washington is harnessing India to its predatory
global agenda and transforming it into a “frontline state” in its confrontation
with China. Last month, New Delhi signed an India-US Logistics Exchange
Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) that gives US combat planes and warships and
their personnel routine access to Indian military bases for resupply, repairs
and rest.
The USA has in recent months curtailed both economic and military aid to
Pakistan. The US Congress also scuttled a deal to sell Pakistan F-16 fighter
jets. Further heightening Islamabad’s strategic anxiety is the relentless
pressure from Washington for Pakistan to bear still more of the burden in the
Afghan War, although large parts of the country have already been transformed
into killing fields.
All of this has made Indian government more confident in pursuing a hard line
against Islamabad. By using the US tone, the Modi government asked PM Sharif to
do more on “cross border terrorism”- a usual Indian fun to mock at Pakistan.
For decades, Pakistan was Washington’s principal partner in South Asia, playing
a significant role in the US’s Cold War intrigues against the Soviet Union, and
in return receiving substantial military aid. Now, Washington cavalierly
dismisses Islamabad’s warnings that American patronage of India has
destabilized South Asia and is fuelling a nuclear-arms race. Pakistan is
certainly concerned about Indian interference with US-Pakistan relations and
alarmed at the dramatic downgrading of its strategic partnership with US led
NATO imperialism.
India has repeatedly stated its opposition to the CPEC, citing the fact that
the corridor will pass through Pakistan-held Kashmir—territory now suddenly
India claims is rightfully its. Indian PM Modi among other top leaders when
they met privately with Chinese President Xi last weekend, have repeatedly told
Beijing that they consider the CPEC a threat to India’s core strategic
interests. China ignores Indian tricks and goes ahead with its costly project
that, in the long runs, benefits Beijing more than Pakistan. India therefore
got into US trap of Asia Pivot and has integrated itself ever more completely
into the US strategic offensive against China.
Pakistan, by contrast, has reacted to the Indian campaign against the CPEC with
bellicose threats. Army Chief General Raheel Sharif warned of “conspiracies”
against Pakistan by its “enemies” and vowed “fool proof security to CPEC.” He
disclosed that the military would soon form a special “security division” in
Balochistan to protect the CPEC, just as it has already done in the country’s
north where it helps the NATO agenda of clearing lands for oil-gas transportation.
.
Meanwhile, China hopes India can be dissuaded from becoming the fourth partner
in a NATO-type anti-China alliance that would be led by Washington and include
its principal Asian-Pacific allies, Japan and Australia.
Pakistan
no more expects its terror ally USA to help get Kashmir from Indian brute
occupation so that it can add first add it to Azad Kashmir under its non-brutal
control before eventually able to make it a part of Pakistani territories and
its Constitution.
Pakistan must now know that India would never use its nuclear abled missiles
targeting Pakistan because Pakistan would also reciprocate the same manner
target India. So, nukes are just a useless shield to deny India chances of
outmaneuver its neighbor. In fact no country today can afford to use nukes
aiming at destroying another country simply because it could also be targeted.
Trying to outsmart one another and claim “win” situation in propaganda
theatrics, relations between South Asia’s rival nuclear-armed powers India and
Pakistan remain heated, accusing each other of promoting terrorism and
exchanging bellicose threats.
USA has been seeking and maybe pressing India to go for a brief war with China
so that it can do the “the rest” but India has not yet been willing to take the
call. In fact, India has been avoiding any battle with Asian giant because it
cannot win it but can only weaken itself. NEW Delhi played its card well by not
militarily responding to the Chinese incursions into Arunachal Pradesh because
once it does that very soon it would be pushed into a surrender situation
wherein USA would certainly have the upper hand to dictate its terms to India
as it would lose all advantages. .
Pakistan’s over stretch towards Beijing has made USA somewhat nervous and even
depressed and is pinning its hopes on India to succeed in its Asia Pivot.
Under conditions where the US has overturned the balance of power in the region
through its aggressive campaign to harness India to its anti-China “Pivot,” the
danger of the India-Pakistan tensions climaxing in war, whether by design or
miscalculation, is rapidly rising. A possible clash between India and Pakistan
threatens to rapidly draw in the USA and China on opposed sides.USA badly wants
a war in South Asia and China has been avoiding strengthening US foothold in
the region.
India wants every country in the region to bend to New Delhi’s demands that
they accept Indian regional dominance as new reality and work for Indian causes
like entire world is working for US advancing its interests globally. Except
Islamabad, all countries seem to have taken India as their regional boss and
never question its state terror action in Kashmir, reducing Muslim population
by perpetual fake encounters.
India
has accelerated its anti-Pakistan tirade in international summits, forcefully
blaming Pakistan in. the G-20 summit in China and then repeated later in the
week at an ASEAN-India Summit, that “one single nation” in South Asia is
spreading terrorism. For its part, Pakistan has repeatedly pointed to India’s
Balochistan campaign as corroboration of its charges that Indian intelligence
is providing aid and arms to the Balochi insurgency. the Pakistan Foreign
Ministry issued a statement that declared: India is that “single nation”; “India
is financing terrorism in Pakistan and open evidences are available on its
involvement in subversive activities.”
In fact, the regional nations take full economic advantages out of Indian
leadership crisis from India and since these weak countries get economic
support from New Delhi they have no reasons to criticize Indian brutalities in
Kashmir. In fact, media in South and West Asia have long stopped criticizing
New Delhi’s regular genocides in Kashmir. .Instead, they try and find reasons
to praise New Delhi and its economy.
Knowing
well the US mindset against Islam and Muslims, India now does not fear any
opposition from world powers to its crimes in Kashmiris. In fact both India and
its military-intelligence ally Israel enjoy the courtship of the western
imperialist powers.
Even while pushing for its regional dominance as an economic power of South
Asia, India can do nothing against China or USA in diluting their intentions in
the region. So it turns its sward toward Pakistan destabilized by its NATO
allies led by USA. In r order to counter Pakistani criticism of Indian state
terror violence in Kashmir, killing Muslims in a sustained manner, .New Delhi
has ratcheted up tensions with repeated denunciations of Islamabad for “human
rights abuses” in Balochistan, where Pakistan’s military is fighting a “dirty
war” against an “insurgency”, thereby launching an unprecedented intervention
into Pakistan’s internal affairs. They were widely understood in both India and
Pakistan as constituting an implicit threat that New Delhi will press for the
dismemberment of Pakistan if Islamabad does not curb its support for the
freedom struggle of Kashmiris in Indian-held Kashmir.
Today,
Jammu Kashmir has been divided among India, Pakistan and China. These three
occupier nations do not want to surrender the stolen lands from Kashmiris on
their military strength. .
India has a simple message to Pakistan: it wants Pakistan to mind its
“business” and enjoy its part of Azad Kashmir and stop meddling in “Indian”
Kashmir which lies at the top Indian map and therefore it does not want to lose
it to Pakistan and lose the physiologic war being waged for decades. Without
Kashmir, New Delhi’s strategic community thinks, Indian map looks like a man
without head. India, therefore, does not want to lose its head annexed from
neighbor.
Significantly, Pakistan responded to last month’s agreement opening Indian
bases to the US military by expressing concern that the Indian action would
contribute to “polarising the region by disturbing the strategic balance in
South Asia and escalating the arms build-up.” The term “polarizing the region”
perhaps was clearly a reference to the hardening of a US-Indian alliance on the
one side and a China-Pakistan alliance on the other. One has no clues as to the
real reasons for the emerging -US alliance and China-Pakistan alliance
Apparently,
the logic of its relentless US campaign to isolate, strategically encircle, and
prepare for war against China and of its push to make India its own main
strategic partner in South Asia and a frontline state in its anti-China
offensive is a well knit plan of veto members to push Islamabad and Beijing
into each other’s strategic embrace.
That is a major strategy of all maneuvers of veto members (and possibly Israel)
that jointly control the world and its regional resources.
|