Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that he raised the issue of Indian interference in Balochistan during his visit to India. He was talking to the media in Islamabad on Sunday on returning from India, where he had gone recently. According to him, he had told the Indians that a Pakistani judicial commission would visit India shortly in connection with the 26/11 attack. However, it seems from his remarks that the bulk of his conversations were about the Mumbai massacres, not about Indian interference in Balochistan. This reflects an unfortunate lack of focus on what amounts to an even greater existential threat to Pakistan than the Mumbai attacks were to India. However, Pakistan has not made anything like the fuss India has made worldwide, and has even silently swallowed the infuriating interference by the US Congress express backing of Baloch separatists. It was Mr Malik himself who announced that India was helping the rebels, and for him merely to mention the issue without any thorough backing and evidence to make his point with some force, goes to show it is yet another opportunity to make its point squandered by Pakistan.
It cannot escape notice that this has been the friendliest government in Islamabad that New Delhi has had, one which went ahead and granted India Most Favoured Nation status even at the cost of the country’s commerce and industry. It must not be forgotten that Balochistan is the county’s largest province by area, and also is rich in minerals. It is necessary to stop Indian interference, and among other things, such as bringing the world’s attention towards it, it is necessary to present India with the incontrovertible evidence available.
Mr Malik, by not taking up the issue properly with India has indicated to India that his government does not really mind what is happening in Balochistan. At the same time, while highlighting the interference, the government must also work to allay the troubles in the province which allow a hostile power to interfere there.