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March 29, 2024
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EditorialIndia’s war-mongering

India’s war-mongering

Despite the recent threat of ‘surgical strikes’ on Pakistan by India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, Islamabad said it favours de-escalation with New Delhi. During a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said, “As a matter of policy, Pakistan wants ceasefire to be observed and respected.” The two countries had renewed the 2003 ceasefire agreement at the LoC in February this year and given hope for rapprochement between the two estranged neighbours. However, while India has held the ceasefire it has refused to rekindle any talks with Pakistan. Instead, New Delhi has time and again engaged in verbal war-mongering with the latest coming from the staunch BJP leader Shah. In fact, just last month, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also hinted that New Delhi may alter its “no-first-use of nuclear-weapons” policy, which would directly threaten Pakistan.

Ministers of the ruling BJP in India have used Pakistan as a tool to gain votes by engaging in verbal spew against this country in order to divert attention from its governance failure, corruption and mishandling of the Coronavirus pandemic. More recently, to absolve itself from the investigations of the seizure of almost three tonnes of heroin at the Mundra port, which is said to be owned by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close friend, India decided to shun trade cargo from Pakistan, along with Iran and Afghanistan, implying that the smuggled narcotics were from this country. Under Modi, New Delhi has made it very clear that it is not interested in any form of talks with Islamabad.

While verbal aggression against Pakistan may seem harmless, the international community must realize that any provocation of aggression from India can result into two nuclear armed countries, which have already engaged in three wars in the past, coming face-to-face. Islamabad has reiterated that any aggression from New Delhi will be responded with seriously. Ignoring India’s blatant calls for war and its sinister designs just to be able to gain access to its huge market can come with a cost to regional security for the West. India has already violated a number of UN treaties as it goes on with its nuclear combat vessels operation in the Indian Ocean. Add to this the number of human rights violations in the Indian-occupied Kashmir and against its own Muslim minority by India. The UN’s policy of selective humanitarian intervention is brewing up regional tensions.

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