The Narendra Modi government on Monday, in a historic move on Monday, revoked the special status given to the state of Jammu and Kashmir; and concluded the process of complete amalgamation of the said regions with India which had started with the signing of Instrument of Accession between the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and Dominion of India nearly 72 years ago in October of 1947.
This move by the Modi government is also poised to dismantle the ISI sponsored terror complex in the Kashmir valley, which the rogue nation has nurtured for long. In retaliation, Imran Khan has been sending out veiled threats to India while protesting against Modi government’s move in Jammu and Kashmir which may have change the strategic dynamics in the region, rattling stake-holders in terrrorism like Pakistan.
As Union Home Minister Amit Shah had indicated towards the developments in Jammu and Kashmir in the Parliament, hostile reactions from Pakistan were expected, however the rogue state, taking note of its deteriorating diplomatic stand had refrained from any knee jerk reaction but later came out with a calculated, nonetheless, vacuous response on the issue.
An official statement from Pakistan read “Pakistan strongly condemns and rejects the announcements made today by the Indian government.” Further, “No unilateral step by the government of India can change this disputed status, as enshrined in the UNSC resolutions. Nor will this ever be acceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan,” the statement said. “As a party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps…Pakistan reaffirms its abiding commitment to the Kashmir cause and its political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination,” it added.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has also, through his tweets and his recent address in a joint session of the Pakistani Parliament made provocative claims of imminent Pakistani offensive action against India. The hollow effectiveness of Pakistani offensive tactics against India, be it in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war or the Kargil war surely do not call for any discussion, however, it is to note that Pakistan has been using this offensive narrative against India to churn out domestic support for the Pakistan military complex which is believed to be the main state actor behind every important administrative decisions in Pakistan. This military complex includes the tremendously corrupt Pakistan armed forces and ISI, the Islamic Republic’s infamous intelligence agency.
BREAKING:
Pakistan’s response unfolds:
1) Airspace closed for #Indian flights
2) Ties w/ India downgraded—Pakistan’s HC 2 India not 2 return 2 Delhi, conforms sources.
3) Alert status raised
4) More measures being considered.
Watch this space.
— Jan Achakzai / جان اچکزئی (@Jan_Achakzai) August 6, 2019
After this massive strategic loss, it appears that Pakistan has decided to paint an intensely hostile and war like situation in the region. In retaliation to the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, and the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, Pakistan has decided to expel Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria. Pakistan has also sought to downgrade all diplomatic ties with India and suspend bilateral trade between the two countries. The Imran Khan government intends to turn this major jolt into a situation that boosts his popularity in Pakistan.
https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1158838473354305536
As Imran Khan eerily warned against more suicide bombings in Kashmir, a Pakistani Twitter handle also claimed that Pakistan may up the ante on exporting terror to India and particularly in Kashmir. This line is no different from Pakistan’s age-old policy to bleed India with a thousand cuts. However, Pakistan remains in a position where it cannot take any concrete action against India to save its terror-backed interests in Jammu and Kashmir. It all appears to be a charade for Imran Khan’s domestic politics.
Nonetheless, the delayed and overtly offensive nature of the narrative being peddled by Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan and other ‘elected’ officials reeks of a meek intent behind this charade as the first few responses were surprisingly weak as opposed to the precedent set by Pakistan’s overreactions and chest thumping on every issue. As the response by the Pakistani deep state unfolded it sure seems that the comments from Imran Khan are only aimed towards the domestic audience as Kashmir is an emotive issue as well as raison d’etre for Pakistani deep state.
Moreover, for Imran Khan too it becomes indispensible to make the most out of every opportunity to radicalize the people of the Islamic republic against India, as the military complex in Pakistan in the past has toppled, exiled and even executed political leaders including Prime Ministers who have in any way threatened its existence by taking a collaborative stance towards India.
Pakistan has had a volatile political history and the military complex in the failed state has not hesitated at all to dislodge the democratically elected government whenever it has seen relevance of armed forces getting reduced and surprisingly has used the tensions with India to justify its brutal imposition of martial law a number of times. The infamous 1958 Pakistani coup d’état also saw democratically elected government being desecrated by General Ayub Khan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army. An eminent reason for Ayub Khan declaring martial law in 1959 was the rising tensions between India and Pakistan regarding the canal water dispute. Similarly, in 1977 the coup orchestrated by Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq, against the government of then-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and 1999 coup by Army Chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif were also largely driven on the back of anti-India agenda in Pakistan. Imran Khan needs to fit in such a military-dominated environment.
Nonetheless, with the fragile state of economy in Pakistan and its largely untrained and underequipped armed forces, the country is no match for India’s economic and military standing, hence, by making these provocative claims Imran Khan is just trying to keep domestic propaganda in line with the interests of the military-terror complex which forms the deep state in the Islamic republic.