Following the Pahalgam massacre that killed 28 tourists, tensions between India and Pakistan have surged, prompting the United Nations to call for restraint and peaceful dialogue amid tit-for-tat diplomacy and escalating war rhetoric by Gopal Misra
The United Nations has urged to show “maximum restraint” as the two nuclear-armed rivals impose tit-for-tat diplomatic measures over a deadly shooting on April 23 at Pahalgam in Kashmir that killed 28 people, mainly Indian tourists. Relations between the estranged neighbours have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out a dastardly act.
Meanwhile, UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, has told the media that “We very much appeal to both the governments … to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we’ve seen do not deteriorate any further.” “Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe, can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement,” she further stated.
Indian Prime Minister Narednra Modi has vowed to hunt down the gunmen responsible for the killings and assured that “I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” “We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth,” he has promised.
It may be noted that these terrorists call themselves the Kashmir Resistance, but Delhi considers it a front for the Pakistan-based terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Pakistan has stated that India’s announcement that “it is suspending a 65-year-old bilateral Indus water treaty, signed by the two rival nations in 1960, is an act of war.”
Pakistan’s media campaign
It goes to the credit of the Pakistani military establishment; it has unleashed anti-India agenda propaganda through its media immediately following the Pahalgam massacre accusing an “invisible” Indian conspiring for the terrorists’ attack on the innocent tourists. It has successfully deployed some of its leading journalists and media personalities, including Nazam Sethi, editor of the Friday Times, for supporting this cock-bull story. Sethi has also claimed that India could not enlist support of the visiting US Vice-President J,D. Vance that the Pahalgam attack was engineered by the Pakistani deep state.
He has also ruled out a full-scale Indian attack on Pakistan, because it might trigger “all-out war” between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Similar sentiments have also been expressed by Khawaja Asif, who told an American news channel that “If there is an all-out attack or something like that, then obviously there will be an all-out war,” adding that the world should be “worried” by the prospect of a full-scale military conflict in the region. Also, any attempt to divert the waters of the Indus River will be an “act of war”.
A definite pattern noticed
It is natural for New Delhi to notice that the Pahalgam attack took place soon after the April 17 speech of the army chief, Asim Munir, who had claimed that Hindu and Muslims have irreconcilable ideological differences; and successive generations of Pakistanis should be taught about it.
It also appears that the massacre was pre-planned just a few days before the scheduled visit of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s scheduled visit to Bangladesh. The visit, however, has been postponed following India’s stern warnings. Interestingly, it was also quite a piquant situation for Pakistan’s three-times prime minister and presently the president of the ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League (Noon), Nawaz Sharif, who has rushed back to Pakistan following the Pahalagam massacre. He has avoided any comment on this issue.
It may be recalled that like the elected government of the Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, which was toppled by the army on August 5, 2024, Nawaz Sharif too had suffered similar humiliations in Pakistan. It is yet to known whether Dar’s visit to Dhaka was benig planned under the instructions of the GHQ or on the advice of Nawaz Sharif.
Apart from reinventing ties with Dhaka, Dar was expected to justify Pakistan’s refusal to tender an apology for the genocide by its army during the 1971 uprising in the then East Pakistan. The other demands are that Pakistan must return its 4.5 billion USD, the share of East Pakistan pending for more than half-a-century, and the return of the Pakistani citizens of Bihar origin to Pakistan. It may be noted that these Bihari refugees have had a past in India. A village in the Singhia Panchayat of the Purnia district, Bihar, is even named Pakistan to retain their umbilical ties with the soil. Unfortunately, these Bihari Muslims, estimated to be nearly half-a million, being abandoned by Pakistan, live in tattered tents. They are being forced to live in subhuman conditions.
Dragon finally condemns terror
It is not surprising, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Guo Jiakun, has stated that “China has taken note of relevant reports and strongly condemns this attack. We resolutely oppose all forms of terrorism, extend our condolences to the victims, and express sincere sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured.” But New Delhi wants to facilitate the extradition of the Pakistani terrorists to India instead using its UN veto power to protect the terrorists.
Earlier, China had blocked the extradition of Sajid Mir of Laskher-e-Taiba, and Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Mohammed to the UN. It is yet to be ascertained that whether learning from the US, China would abandon its ‘amicable’ approach towards radical Islamists. The US has finally handed over Tahawwur Rana, who is believed to have masterminded the 26-11 attack on Mumbai. It is difficult to state whether Beijing would really revise its policy of supporting Pakistani terrorists’ outfits.
Younus and the Islamic Agenda
It is yet to be ascertained whether the civilian face of the military government of Bangladesh, the talkative or boastful Mohammad Younus, would oppose the terrorists’ Pahalgam attack. After returning from Beijing, where he had been during March 26-29, he was expected to promote his Islamic agenda during Dar’s visit this month. Unfortunately for him, after the Pahalgam massacre, Dar’s Dhaka visit has been postponed. It also means that he has to go for the elections, which would be disastrous for his fragile government.
During his visit to Beijing, he had even boasted that Bangladesh would help the land-locked states of India’s northeastern region, if the Chinese help his country in expanding its trade in the region that “Dhaka was the only guardian of the ocean for all this region”. Further, he had also claimed that his country’s high growth under Sheikh Hasina was “fake” and faulted the world for not questioning what he said was her corruption. The truth, however, is that under the advice of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hasina had cautiously used Indian financial support and was credited with turning around the economy and the country’s massive garments industry during her 15 years in power.
Immediately, after these boastful statements, India has quietly terminated the trans-shipment facility for Bangladesh’s export cargo from Indian ports and air-terminals. The Indian government has justified the decision that the trans-shipment facility extended to Bangladesh had over a period of time resulted in significant congestion at our airports and ports. “Logistical delays and higher costs were hindering our own exports and creating backlogs,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has imposed high tariffs on the Chinese cargo ships irrespective of the country they have been hired for the shipments. The new levies on Chinese-made ships arriving at U.S. ports have been proposed, up to as much as $1.5 million USD.
The political crisis in Bangladesh had triggered following the sacking of an elected PM Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024. With the visit of Dar postponed, New Delhi’s post-Pahalgam policy would also include a tougher stance against Bangladesh.
The Pahalgam massacre has triggered a new political process in the region. It is alarming as well as challenging.
