ISLAMABAD - Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator Rehman Malik urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to raise the US-India Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement at the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation fora.
The Pakistan People’s Party leader wrote to the PM advising him to raise the matter as it was a threat to regional peace and stability.
In his letter, Senator Rehman Malik urged Prime Minister Imran Khan, “In the national interest, I request you to take up the matter of the US-India defence pact - BECA in United Nations and other International fora to alert the international community about India’s violent designs not only towards Pakistan but towards other countries in the region too.”
He suggested evolving national consensus on vital national security issue of US-India defence pact and Parliament may be taken into confidence in-camera as to what measures have been taken by Pakistan to safeguard military and strategic assets. He advised raising concerns and apprehensions on this pact in UNSC and other International fora.
He urged that Pakistan must call a meeting of all SARACC countries on this one point agenda to discuss and pass a resolution on this pact that is highly detrimental to the region. “Request China to call a meeting of regional countries either in China or Pakistan and discuss a counterstrategy to this pact and raise it in SCO,” he added. He said that it was important to educate masses on the rising risk, so that nation could be well-prepared and united.
Referring to his earlier apprehensions, Senator Rehman Malik said that his earlier warning, to the then government, on 12th July, 2016, went unheeded, wherein he had raised alarm when US had announced joint satellite venture to use Indian satellite for weather data under the cover of cooperation on weather coordinates.
He wrote: “Clearly, it was thinly veiled covert spying operation, for zooming in Pakistan and China through the powerful devices. I had expressed that through this joint technical development both India and US had started setting up the required gadgets and tuning in the Sino-Pak military bases/assets. Unfortunately, my warning went un-heeded.”
He added: “I would like to draw your kind attention towards Indo-American pact “Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation” or BECA, inked on 27th Oct, for sharing satellite map data, tactical real-time intelligence, that can exponentially enhance the accuracy of drone, missile and aerospace target acquisition technologies, controllable from across the globe or even space, poses a perpetual existential threat to Pakistan and several other countries of the region.”
He elaborated that after being declared the Major Defence Partner, and inking of The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Association of Aug-2016, later, The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement of 2018, and compounding these with the “Industrial Security Annex” in Dec-2019, and now BECA, India had succeeded in laying down a complete formidable matrix of Indo-American hybrid-warfare mechanism.
He added that according to available information, the USA had already completed this “cooperation” by July 2019 and signing of BECA was merely a formality, at a time to demonstrate total support to India against China and Pakistan, to mitigate the humility India is suffering at Doklam and Galwan.
He stated that when seen in light of the recent sequenced developments, such as the French Islamophobic stance, in step with Indian Islamophobic hysteria, wooing and pampering Hindu chauvinistic diaspora in US in electioneering campaigns, recent forecasts of war with Pakistan and China by Indian BJP politicians, all add up towards sinister Indian designs against Pakistan and China. The falling in place of the final piece of this strategic puzzle, clearly indicates that India would be in a position to undertake adventure against Pakistan, in very near future, lest Pakistan develops counter-capability, he added.