With sudden spurt in terror attacks in Jammu region since the conclusion of Assembly elections in the Union Territory, former Chief Minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah recently lashed out at Pakistan for perpetrating terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, saying Islamabad will have to stop terror incidents here if it wants to have friendly relations with India.
Abdullah said there can be no talks between New Delhi and Islamabad till the neighbouring country stops killings in Jammu and Kashmir.
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This is a big statement, considering that Pakistan has been constantly fomenting trouble in Jammu and Kashmir for nearly 40 years, hoping to include Kashmir forcibly with itself. But the local leadership and the people are now fed up with Pakistan’s anti-India stance.
Former PM of Pakistan and president of ruling PML-N party Nawaz Sharif had expressed optimism about restoring Pakistan’s ties with India and meeting with Indian PM Narendra Modi.
The remarks, made during an interview with Indian journalist Barkha Dutt, on the eve of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit hosted in Islamabad, which was attended by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
“I have always been a supporter of good relations with India,” Nawaz told Dutt. “I hope that there is an opportunity to revive our relationship.” He had hoped to have an opportunity to sit together with PM Modi in the “not-so-distant future.”
But no sooner did he make these statements, there was a spurt in terror attacks in Jammu. Even though the Pakistani political establishment wants to normalise ties with India, this is not going to happen because its military is the de-facto ruler and it has never and will not allow peace to prevail between the two neighbours.
It has fought four wars with India, constantly fomented trouble not only in Kashmir, but also in Punjab. It still continues to support extremist groups based in Canada to cause disruption in Punjab, even though India has followed a consistent and principled policy towards Pakistan i.e. in keeping with its “Neighbourhood First Policy”.
India has always sought normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free from terror, hostility and violence.
India has made a number of attempts to build normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. Since 2014, this has manifested in the invitation to the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the swearing-in ceremony in May 2014; the meeting between Prime Ministers’ in Ufa in July 2015; and External Affairs Minister’s (EAM) visit to Islamabad in December 2015. EAM also took the initiative to propose a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue in December 2015.
These initiatives were responded with acts of cross-border terrorism and violence against India including the cross-border terror attack on Pathankot Airbase on 2 January 2016; attack on Army Camp in Uri in August 2016; and terror attack on the convoy of Indian security forces in Pulwama by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) on 14 February 2019.
Prime Minister Modi spoke to former Pakistan PM Imran Khan in July 2018 and congratulated him for his party emerging as the largest political party in the National Assembly.
In response to PM’s congratulatory letter, Pakistan wrote back in September 2018 desiring and also Pakistan’s readiness to discuss terrorism.
In response to the intentions expressed in these letters, Pakistan’s proposal for a meeting was accepted by India on 20 September 2018. However, within hours of India’s acceptance, Pakistan-based terrorist entities brutally killed three police personnel in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Terrorism emanating from territories under Pakistan’s control remains a core concern in bilateral relations. India has consistently stressed the need for Pakistan to take credible, irreversible and verifiable action to end cross border terrorism against India and fulfill its assurances, given to India that territory under its control would not be allowed to be used for terrorism against India in any manner.
India has repeatedly called upon Pakistan to bring perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to justice expeditiously. However, there has been no progress in the ongoing trial of the Mumbai terror attacks case in Pakistan even after all the evidence has been shared with the Pakistan side.
Pakistan is a security State, dominated by the Army generals. It does not want democracy to prevail in its purest form. There is always pseudo democracy in Pakistan, wherein there is a civilian government in power officially, but the strings are in the hands of the army generals.
If the Pakistani army allows peace with India, it will lose its relevance and the crores of rupees the top hierarchy siphons off, in the name of securing the country. Till the time this approach continues, Pakistani politicians and the common people can forget normal ties with India.
