While using every international forum to expose Pakistan’s dangerous game, India must take sincere and credible steps to address the concerns of Kashmiris and ensure genuine empowerment.
Post Date – 12:25 AM, Wed – 1/4/23
While using every international forum to expose Pakistan’s dangerous game, India must take sincere and credible steps to address the concerns of Kashmiris and ensure genuine empowerment.
Hyderabad: At the beginning of the new year, terrorist attacks took place in the Kashmir Valley one after another, killing 7 innocent people, including 3 children, in the Rajuri border area. These despicable acts serve as a reminder of Pakistan’s continued policy of using terrorism as a tool of national policy and provocation in the region. Terrorists opened fire indiscriminately on three houses belonging to the Hindu community of Dhangri village on Sunday night in a dastardly attack that claimed the lives of four civilians. The next day, two children were killed in an explosion near the home of one of the victims. Both incidents were clearly aimed at disrupting the peace and undermining the resumption of the electoral process in Union territory. Now is the time to send a strong message through diplomatic channels to Islamabad that it must turn off the spigot of terrorism. Restoring normal relations with Pakistan is out of question unless its terror factories are dismantled. It is regrettable that the United States chooses to play a dubious role in the name of diplomatic balance when it is necessary for the international community to speak out in unison and isolate Islamabad from exporting terrorism. The recent observation by US State Department spokesman Ned Price that both India and Pakistan are indispensable to his country is condescending. Indeed, U.S. diplomacy has long been obsessed with taking a hyphenated approach to India and Pakistan despite dramatic changes in regional dynamics. The two South Asian neighbors are often put together for lazy generalizations and condescending preaching.
The US gave the impression that it was keen on “constructive” dialogue between the two countries; however, Washington was reluctant to tell Islamabad to turn around. Last year’s F16 deal with Pakistan left no doubt that the US does not hesitate to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. India is right to stand its ground and it wants good neighborly relations with everyone, but that doesn’t mean condoning or ignoring or rationalizing terrorism. Under no circumstances should terrorism be used as a tool to bring India to the negotiating table. While using every international forum to expose Pakistan’s dangerous game, India must take sincere and credible steps to address the concerns of Kashmiris and ensure genuine empowerment. Peace must be restored in J&K to create a favorable climate for the long-delayed parliamentary elections. A parliamentary vote could pave the way for restoration of statehood – a long-term demand from local residents and political parties, according to the roadmap the center has unveiled in parliament. Fighting terrorism and closing the trust deficit are prerequisites for a return to normalcy.
