After fighting and incessantly raising the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir on the global map including various UN meets, Pakistan has finally toned down its rhetoric. In what comes as an admission of acceptance, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi recently conceded that abrogation of Article 370 is India’s internal matter.
In an interview with Pakistan’s SAMAA TV, shared by Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat, Qureshi is heard saying that the dilution of Article 370 is India’s internal matter, adding that the move has been challenged in the Indian Supreme Court.
After two years, foreign minister Qureshi has realised article 370 means nothing to Pakistan. "It is India's internal issue." pic.twitter.com/FFp2i7l7VT
— Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) May 7, 2021
“Article 370 is their (India’s) internal issue. The people of Kashmir are saying that you had made a promise…It is their frustration. The matter is still pending in the Supreme Court and people have challenged it. There has been a strong reaction in Kashmir to the steps which have been undertaken- whether it is 35A or 370 or the cruelty inflicted there. Today, there is a huge section in India which agrees that they have lost more and gained less because of these steps,” said Qureshi.
Adding that both countries are nuclear powered, Qureshi remarked that war is not an option and will be suicidal.
“There is no option other than dialogue. These are two nuclear powers with outstanding issues which need to be resolved either today, tomorrow, or the day after. War is not an option. War will be suicidal,” he added.
It is important to see Qureshi’s admission from a wider lens and how Pakistan has finally submitted itself to the reality of the situation. It was the abrogation of article 370 that had riled up Imran Khan and his government, so much so that he took to the UNGA to raise the issue. After Turkey’s madmen leader President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also raised the Kashmir issue, Pakistan wagged its tail behind Ankara and sided with it, angering Saudi Arabia in the process.
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Apart from a few handfuls of countries like Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia, every single country across the globe accepted India’s abrogation of Article 370 and called it New Delhi’s internal matter whilst refusing Islamabad’s calls to intervene.
It’s not only Qureshi that has started serenading India by talking in mushy tones. As reported by TFI last month, addressing the session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue, Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was a changed man as well.
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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.
Moreover, Bajwa’s statement came a day after puppet PM 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.
Devastated by the pandemic and not having a reliable vaccine in its backyard, Pakistan is trying to woo India by releasing such statements. However, New Delhi understands Islamabad’s tactics.