India and USA hand-in-glove

Asif Haroon Raja

India-US-UK-Israel nexus is hand-in-glove and conspiring to harm Pakistan. Pakistan has been profusely bled by the nexus based in Kabul for the last eight years but they call themselves as friends of Pakistan. Our leaders reciprocate their sentiments and go out of the way to please them. There has been no change in this policy of appeasement despite having collected irrefutable proof of involvement of RAW in all our troubled spots. Once the Army unearthed huge caches of Indian origin weaponry and literature from Swat and South Waziristan Agency (SWA) during Rah-e-Rast and Rah-e-Nijat Operations, our rulers after naming RAW reluctantly became tight lipped. Despite causing immeasurable harm to Pakistan, the Indo-western media continue to churn out vicious stories blaming Pakistan for the sins committed by the said nexus. The US media in particular spread gloom and doom and apart from overplaying the existential threat posed by religious extremists, it comes out with never ending sensational tales ranging from Taliban stealing our nukes to their taking over power. The two premier institutions of Pakistan, the army and ISI, responsible for safeguarding security interests of the country are demonized and maligned. After the US weird allegation that Mullah Omar led Shura was based in Quetta and then shifting it to Karachi, Gordon Brown, the poodle of USA has reconfirmed Hillary Clinton’s bizarre claim that Osama bin Laden is in FATA. Such harebrained chronicles are dished out off and on to keep Pakistan on the leash.

Ample proof of deep involvement of RAW in all our restive regions has been found. It could not have possibly undertaken clandestine operations from Afghan soil without active collaboration of US military and CIA. The axis of evil has been collectively hatching conspiracies to destabilize, de-Islamise, denuclearize and balkanize Pakistan and to convert it into a protégé of India. The US and Israel too are heavily involved as is evident from unearthing of US MI rifles and Israeli Uzis and sniper weapons. Massive stocks of Indian and Russian origin arms, ammunition, explosives in use in Indian Army have been discovered from Swat and SWA. Indian trainers have been imparting training to members of fake Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and to dissident Balochis in Balochistan.

When India raised a storm after arresting controversial Ajmal Kasab in 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the US and western officials gave their shoulders to weepy Indian leaders shedding crocodile tears over the self-enacted drama. Giving a clean chit to hundreds of terrorist outfits in India, Pakistan was singled out and blamed by India. Grief stricken strategic partners of India exerted immense pressure on our leaders to do as asked by India to thwart possible Indo-Pak war. India is still bawling and is not prepared to forgive Pakistan for the crime it had manufactured so as to draw more concessions as it had done after 2002 military standoff. India has provided half-baked evidence about alleged culprits of Mumbai carnage but is not prepared to give Pakistan access to lone witness Kasab since it knows that the accused will spill the beans. The case built on very weak basis is vigorously supported by USA and Pakistan is being constantly pressed to proceed against the culprits named by India so that process of composite dialogue could recommence. The real purpose is to trap Pakistan and declare it a terrorist state. In contrast to fabricated case with too many glaring loopholes, Pakistan has provided foolproof evidence of involvement of RAW in Balochistan, SWA, Swat and Lahore. Several RAW agents have been nabbed who have owned their crimes. The US and western world are however mute. It is not possible for the US and UK to agree to Pakistan viewpoint since the duo is party to the game plan.

Whereas Pakistanis have seen the real faces of our so-called friends who are collectively slow poisoning Pakistan, it is ironic that our rulers still call them true friends. They continue to blindly trust them and allow them to peep into our most sensitive areas despite American stated intentions of extracting our nuclear teeth. Having come to know that India under the garb of friendship stabbed us in the back and is still continuing with its hostile policy, our myopic rulers are clamoring to restart farcical composite dialogue. Instead of feeling sheepish and apologetic, Indian leaders continue to behave arrogantly and are still accusing Pakistan of planning another Mumbai like attack in India and for indulging in cross border terrorism in Kashmir. Indian Army chief Gen Kapoor is in a belligerent mood and has sounded threat of limited war against Pakistan.             

Rather than attending to miseries of 80% poverty stricken Indians, India is going berserk in building up its military power. Defence budget for 2009/10 has been hiked by 34%, allocating Rs 1.42 trillion out of which Rs 548.34 has been marked as capital outlay to buy state-of-art weapons. Expenditure on defence including nuclear and space projects would exceed $40 billion. Apart from expanding and upgrading the three services, missile and nuclear strength is also being beefed up. Indo-US civilian nuclear accord is helping India in this regard. In its quest to encircle its chief adversary Pakistan, Indian air force has set up an air base in Tajikistan where MiG-31 jets have been parked. Indian engineers are developing and upgrading air bases in Afghanistan. These would be subsequently used by Indo-Israeli air forces to strike nuclear facilities of Pakistan and Iran or during India-Pakistan war. Oblivious of arming to teeth a country known for its expansionist designs, the US and western countries are busy selling weaponry to India to earn dollars. India screams and bellows whenever Pakistan attempts to buy any equipment to meet its urgent defence needs or is handed over counter terrorism equipment. Hypocritically, India is still worried that Pakistan may not tilt the military balance in its favor.                    

Indian rulers had raised serious objections to $10.5 billion military and economic assistance to Pakistan announced by George Bush for fighting US war on terror, not realizing that most of the amount was payment of services rendered and a significant part went back to American kitty as consultancy fee. Indian lobby in USA played a role in making the language of Kerry-Lugar Bill (KLB) insulting and in adding harmful clauses. Once the bill was passed which was apparently lucrative, offering $1.5 billion grant to Pakistan annually, surprisingly India did not make hue and cry. Rather, Indian media tried to defend KLB and spoke the language of ruling regime of Pakistan. Aakar Patel in his article titled ‘Kerry-Lugar is good for Pakistan’ appearing on 18 October in ‘The News’ argued that the bill doesn’t infringe upon Pak sovereignty as asserted by Pak army. He subtly tried to provoke KLB lovers in Pakistan that Pak Army had no reason to get upset and to make its concerns public. He eulogized Mehmood Qureshi calling him world-class, forgetting that during his last visit to New Delhi in November 2008 when Mumbai carnage took place, he and his colleagues had dubbed his utterances as insolent and puffed-up. In case of Kashmir dispute, India has sought policy of bilateralism and non-interference of outside powers merely to prevent third party mediation or facilitation but seeks US intervention whenever it wants Pakistan to be coerced. It would welcome US facilitation on Kashmir if US Administration gives a solemn pledge that the dispute would be solved strictly in accordance with wishes of India.

Having found clinching proof of India’s involvement in covert operations in Pakistan, Islamabad should unveil the true face of India to the world and move the case in International Court of Justice. It will be pointless to convince USA since it is hand-in-glove with India and will never annoy India since the two are strategic partners. 

The writer is a defence and political analyst based at Rawalpindi and author of several books.Email:ah.raja@yahoo.com