Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has increased its massive militarization campaign that poses a threat to this country as well as the region. In the recent past, with a dramatic shift in its strategic position cushioned by the West, India has acquired and developed new conventional and non-conventional land, air and sea weapons systems worth $73 billion. The West, primarily America’s obsession with China, which is increasing its dependence on India in an attempt to make New Delhi counter Beijing, has led it to not only support the military might of the neighbouring country but also include it in its so-called coveted security pacts, such as, the more recent AUKUS. The trilateral security pact encourages countries to boost their own nuclear capabilities.
But this is a cause of concern, especially because India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has hinted that New Delhi may alter its “no-first-use of nuclear-weapons” policy. If this happens, a renewed nuclear arms race in South Asia may begin with Indian-provoked hostility, which is a direct threat to Islamabad and the region. Highlighting this very concern, Ambassador Munir Akram once again raised the issue at the United Nations and said that India’s quest for regional hegemony poses a threat to international peace and security. Akram also noted that “70 per cent of India’s weaponry and forces are deployed against Pakistan,” and if New Delhi’s war-mongering leads to its aggression against this country, Islamabad is prepared to fight back.
The international community must realise that with an already volatile situation in Afghanistan with Taliban’s takeover of the war-torn country in August, the last thing the region needs is a sinister attempt by India to fan a potential war. New Delhi has already blatantly disregarded the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the UNSC Resolution 255 and the UNSCR 984 related nuclear security assurances as it operates nuclear combat vessels in the Indian Ocean. Add to this, its blatant human rights violations in the Occupied Kashmir and against its own 200 million Muslim minority. India today under PM Modi is showing signs of Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany. The world must wake up to its increasing atrocities and nuclear threat. The UN should push New Delhi towards a strategic restraint regime as tabled by Pakistan to ensure peace and stability in South Asia.
