By Rahul Dixit
India has sent another piercing reminder to Pakistan for its latest shenanigans on Kashmir by warning that the Indian Army would not need to do much to take back the regions under Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK). The terse message by Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh was in response to the nonsensical reaction by Pakistan to the joint statement issued by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and US President Mr. Joe Biden during the former’s immensely successful state visit to America. Both the leaders had called out Pakistan to ensure the country is not used as a base for terror attacks and training of terrorists. The direct mention of Pakistan has riled Islamabad which termed the joint statement as contrary to diplomatic norms. Pakistan’s reaction is borne out of the frustration of increasing isolation from the international community as it has marked India as the partner for the future.
Mr. Rajnath Singh used the most painful point to hurt Pakistan while reminding its vulnerability in a direct military combat with India. The mention of Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir is from a comprehensive plan prepared by New Delhi to corner Pakistan whenever it rakes up the issue of Kashmir. The Pakistani leadership has been consistently bringing the issue of Kashmir in its statements on any international platform available, irrespective of the agenda or topic of discussion. It has always ended up with an egg on the face as the Indian leadership and diplomats have shredded into Pakistan’s feeble arguments. The reminder of PoK as an unfinished agenda for the Indian Armed Forces is now part of the intense diplomatic campaign to corner Islamabad.
Before Mr. Rajnath Singh’s direct warning on reclaiming PoK, External Affairs Minister Mr. S Jaishankar, too, had broached the subject while ripping apart Pakistan Foreign Minister Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ summit in Goa. Countering Mr. Bhutto’s outburst on Kashmir in Goa, Mr. Jaishankar had asserted that there was nothing left to discuss on Kashmir with Pakistan except Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir which India has resolved to reclaim soon. Mr. Jaishankar’s reply was an ample hint of India’s plans to corner Pakistan over PoK all the more aggressively. It was from the new rule book of the Modi Government which has decided to launch a no-holds-barred diplomatic campaign to grill Pakistan over PoK. The game was taken a notch higher by the Defence Minister as he warned of more “surgical strikes” to take back PoK.
India has already passed a unanimous resolution in the Parliament declaring PoK as a part of India only. It has figured not only in the political statements by the ministers but has also been part of warnings from the Indian Army. The services have been vocal about their readiness to launch an armed offensive if needed to merge the region of Gilgit-Baltistan into India. At the same time, New Delhi is exercising its international influence and diplomacy to ensure the issues of terrorism, PoK, and human rights violation by Pakistan Army in Gilgit Baltistan are placed on the international agenda.
Success of the efforts was reflected in the Indo-US joint statement on terrorism issued from the White House. With a clear mention of Pakistan in the statement the message has reached Islamabad and the military headquarters in Rawalpindi that America, which always had Pakistan’s back in bilateral issues with India all these years, is no more interested in its former Asian ally. The underlining import to be derived from the latest episodes is the expiry of Pakistan’s shelf value for the United States. By being in the iron embrace of China, Pakistan has dug its own grave. It is the right time for India to translate the warning on PoK into action.
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