Addressing the session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue, Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was a changed man. The Army chief, who usually has his fangs pointed toward India, waiting to unload the venom, talked about peace, conflict resolution and uncharacteristically said that it was time to bury the past.
“It is important to understand that without the resolution of Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, the process of sub-continental rapprochement will always remain susceptible to derailment due to politically motivated bellicosity. However, we feel that it is time to bury the past and move forward,” said Bajwa.
“Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in Kashmir,” Bajwa said. He added that any effort to improve ties without addressing the core issue would be vulnerable to external political factors.
However, one should not be fooled by Bajwa’s honey-glazed words of burying the hatchet. The statement by Bajwa comes at a time when President Biden has taken the centre stage in American politics. Sensing an opportunity to woo America once again, which had given Pakistan a relatively cold shoulder under the Trump administration — Bajwa is only using the clickbait statements to jumpstart the stalled funding route.
In 2018, the Trump administration had suspended USD 300 million in funding to Islamabad over what it called the government’s failure to take action against terrorists. But with a war-mongering Democrat back in the oval office of the White House, Pakistan has looked to milk the situation to its full effect.
Moreover, Bajwa’s statement comes a day after puppet Prime Minister Imran Khan also echoed similar sentiments by saying India will benefit economically by having peace with Pakistan as it will enable New Delhi to directly access the resource-rich Central Asia region through Pakistani territory. “India will have to take the first step. Unless they do so, we cannot do much,” Khan said.
However, soon after talking in a mushy-mushy tone, Khan showed his true intents when he once again took to regurgitating the old, stale UN charade. Khan said that India should give Kashmiris their right under the UN.
“If India gives the Kashmiris their right under the UN, it will be greatly beneficial for Pakistan as well as India.” said a disillusioned Khan.
Imran Khan talking about India taking the first step is quite rich, considering it was Indian PM Narendra Modi who had invited all the SAARC nations leaders including the then Pak PM Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony. PM Modi had even landed in Pakistan abruptly to attend the wedding of one of Sharif’s family members and actively took part in the peace dialogue. However, Pakistan being its usual self, undid all the good work by undertaking the Pathankot terror attacks and since then, the relations have been on a downward slope as New Delhi continues to iterate that bilateral talks and terrorism cannot go hand in hand.
Thus, those feeling elated or euphoric that there has been a radical change in stance by the terrorist state should take a cursory glance at the larger scheme of things. Bajwa’s remarks are simply meant to pander to the White House whose Democrat leader Joe Biden might just give in and go against Trump’s policy by reactivating the funding route.