Certain recent developments taking place inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir coupled with aggressive posturing by India on the issue has caused jitters and raised fears among the Pakistani military establishment about some “possible action” by India.
Having learnt it the hard way that there is new normal in India about crossing the borders and going to any extreme and extent, the Pakistan army has issued a “counter threat” to India claiming that any such action will be met with “cataclysmic” response. That is a perennial threat Pakistan has always been resorting to, while alluding to its nuclear potential.
There is a reason for Pakistan’s panic reaction. Immediately after the cessation of hostilities in May this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it abundantly and categorically clear that Operation Sindoor has not been stopped, but has only been “paused”. India still maintains that position saying it was watching Pakistan’s actions.
Recently, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chief of Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi not only issued clear and stern warning to Pakistan about any misadventure, but have also reiterated India’s rightful claim over the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
Indian has rightly adopted an aggressive posture towards Pakistan for obvious reasons. For a while, Pakistan’s ruling establishment has postured itself like it had really won the war against India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, that left 26 tourists dead.
Further, US President Donald Trump’s warm gestures towards Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir, nevertheless for entirely different reasons, made the Pakistani establishment fancy “military” and diplomatic supremacy over India.
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Moreover, it is after many decades that the US administration has shown some diplomatic interest in Pakistan. Trump and his family have certain business interests in Pakistan like the crypto deals, minerals and real estate investments.
Last month Pakistan also signed a defence pact with the oil rich and influential Saudi Arabia. This apparently emboldened Pakistan assuming that it had scored some diplomatic and strategic edge over India. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are old allies. Saudi Arabia has invested huge money in Pakistan in aid and debt. There is nothing new about the latest deal in the name of defence pact.
India has responded the way it should have to Pakistan’s fanciful adventurism. Both the Defence Minister as well as the External Affairs Minister referred to India’s rightful claims over Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Rajnath Singh suggested that India may not even need to use its military to liberate POK from Pakistan’s occupation as local people have already risen against it. This was in the aftermath of massive protests taking place across POK with posters being displayed there, seeking merger with India.
India has never been proactive about POK despite rightful claims and resolutions. In May 1994, both Houses of the Indian parliament passed a unanimous resolution that POK was the only unsettled part of the Kashmir issue and it had to be merged with India. There have been repeated demands from various political parties within the country that it should execute the 1994 resolution and liberate POK from Pakistani occupation.
As the Defence Minister and the External Affairs Minister along with the Chief of Army Staff raised the issue, it touched the raw nerve in Pakistan's political and military establishment. Pakistan is quite apprehensive about India trying to add fuel to the fire in POK. The POK has been quite a neglected region. People of POK have learnt it by now as to how much progress the other part of Kashmir has made while they have been left out and their resources been exploited. This has led to grave unrest, which is being manifested in daily protests across the region.
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The context and background of the statements made by Indian ministers and the COAS are obviously not lost on Pakistan and its ruling establishment. That is the reason for their panic-stricken response, which often ends at nuclear blackmail. India has been well past that blackmail and would certainly not be cowed down.
India’s aggressive stance on the POK is a welcome move. It should have come long back immediately after the abrogation of the Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which completely integrated Jammu and Kashmir with India and cleared all doubts and misgivings. While that was a long overdue constitutional measure, the second step will need to be more massive, aggressive and action packed, which again is long overdue.
While liberating the POK from Pakistan occupation may certainly take some time, in the meanwhile, it should maintain diplomatic and other sorts of pressure on Pakistan and its army. Besides, it will also boost the morale of the people in POK who seek merger with India.
There is already a talk about India eyeing the POK. The argument is that if the BJP government could repeal the Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which was thought to be unimaginable, just six years ago, it can always take a chance to reclaim the POK, which is part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir that acceded to India in October 1947. Technically and legally, POK is very much an integral part of India, which the country has been claiming for a long time. May be the time has come to claim it seriously and more strongly.
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