LAHORE - It is difficult to say what will exactly happen as a result of Indian government’s opposition to Pak-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the days to come but veteran foreign affairs’ experts believe that New Delhi will accelerate the proxy war against Pakistan creating unrest in Balochistan and tribal areas from Afghanistan through outlawed TTP.
At the same time, they are of the assessment that such actions will only prove counter-productive and endorse Pakistan’s position concerning Indian involvement in Balochistan and support to outlawed TTP members hiding in Afghanistan.
Former foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, giving his assessment over Indian government’s opposition to CPEC while talking to The Nation on Tuesday, said, “India is using undiplomatic language with matters relating to Pakistan, while New Delhi will be herself the casualty of this unfair and rude conduct of diplomacy in the international community. New Delhi’s bids to accelerate proxy war on our soil will also reinforce Islamabad’s position which it first took at Sharmul Sheikh (Egypt) moot pointing out Indian involvement in Balochistan.”
He remarked, “Indian bids to accelerate subversive actions on our soil will only prove counter-productive, as reply from our side will also inflict damage on the other side. Both the countries are nuclear powers and have strong defence. So they cannot afford proxy wars and real war.”
Kasuri added, “Pakistan can counter the possible anti-economic corridor actions only through internal strength which we can attain through unity among our ranks. On the matter of economic corridor, the entire political leadership has demonstrated maturity and backed the deal between two friendly nations.”
Former foreign minister observed, “Negotiated settlement of the issues between the two neighbouring nuclear states is the only choice and option, however, New Delhi should express flexibility by agreeing to the fair and just settlement of the Kashmir which can end years old animosity between the two nations to bring peace and progress in the region.”
Kasuri while saying that Gilgit-Baltistan region would largely cover the route of the Economic Corridor, observed that the route could be opened for India too if it reached a fair and just settlement of Kashmir with Pakistan.
Former senior diplomat, Zafar Hilali sharing his views on Indian opposition to CPEC deal, strongly believed that New Delhi would increase its proxy war in Balochistan through Baloch militants and in tribal areas using the outlawed TTP members hiding in Afghanistan.
He said it would be a miracle if the term of Modi ends without going into a real war with Pakistan.
He added, “New Delhi has already engaged us in a proxy war and nobody can predict when this proxy war turns into a real war.”
In his several proposals to counter the Indian aggressive designs especially against the backdrop of Economic Corridor deal, he suggested, “We should form a ‘Government of National Unity’ taking onboard all the political forces with a term of three-year to deal with the serious challenges faced by the country.”
“The number of security forces should be increased through fresh recruitments, especially the Pak Army, while Balochistan’s security matters should be directly given to Pak Army instead of Frontier Corps. State of the art weapons should be provided to the forces fighting war against terrorism and we can get help from China for this purpose as we both have a common foe in the region.”
“On the diplomatic front, Pakistan should launch an aggressive campaign against Indian involvement in terror activities on our soil in the international community and for this purpose we should take the evidence of Indian intelligence agency RAW’s involvement in Balochistan in the United Nations.”
“Islamabad should employ the services of professional and seasoned diplomats for this campaign as the political appointees cannot carry out this uphill task.”
Hilali quoted the Indian defence minister as saying, “Nuclear weapons and Pakistan cannot co-exist.” The former diplomat said, “Economic Corridor lies largely in Gilgit Baltistan region and Indians would try to use the TTP members hiding in Afghanistan to ignite sectarian strife in our region so we should be extra-ordinary vigilant.”
Hilali claimed that members of Afghan security services were involved in organizing meetings of Indian intelligence RAW and outlawed TTP members.
At the same time, phosphorus bombs were seized in Balochistan during security services operations, which could not be made by the Baloch militants.
He observed, “CPEC is a threat to strategic interests of India and its partner the US in the region. We should prepare ourselves to counter Indian hegemonic designs with the help of China before our enemies succeed in turning Pakistan into another Syria or Libya.