JK News Today Commentary
Pakistan is upping ante in the international arena as a frontline country in fight against terrorism .This diplomatic and political strategy has gained momentum ever since Donald Trump assumed office of the US President for a second time six week ago. It is using this as a ploy to showcase that it is both victim of terrorism and warrior against it .
Islamabad is trying to kill two birds with one stone . It is placing itself as a country that is sacrificing its men in fight against terrorism and at the same time helping the US and other countries in nabbing the wanted terrorists of the global terror networks. This is the way it has renewed its strategy to shed the tag of being an epicentre of terrorism . It knows that it is a huge task given its prolonged history of aligning with terrorist groups and driving them to commit terror atrocities in other countries , particularly India, therefore, it is trying to manage a new narrative of being on the frontline in counter-terrorism operations.
On March 4th night when Donald Trump while delivering his address to the joint session of Congress said : “Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist, responsible for the atrocity in , which ISIS terrorists killed 13 American service members and countless others in the Abbey Gate , Afghanistan ( in August 2021, “Pakistan was elated . It saw it as endorsement of its efforts in counter terrorism.
On Thursday , the US state department’s new spokesperson Tammy Bruce in response to a question of a Pakistani journalist whether the US administration had expressed gratitude to Pakistan government over the latter’s role in getting the terrorist involved in Abbey Gate massacre arrested , said : “ We ,extend our gratitude to the Government of Pakistan , we do , for their partnership in bringing Mohammad Sharifullah to justice .”
Bruce went on to add, “regarding Pakistan and the nature of our relationship, we have a common interest, obviously, in fighting terrorism, and the arrest of this terrorist also illustrated that U.S.-Pakistan cooperation on counterterrorism remains vitally important.”
This must have been music to Islamabad’s ears. And, it is quite obvious that Pakistan would like to further build on the perception that it is fighting terrorism. It is for this reason that it is extolling Donald Trump and making fervent attempts to provoke him to ask for mediation between India and Pakistan on Kashmir issue
It could not have been a coincidence that a Pakistani journalist asked India’s external minister S Jaishankar a question about Kashmir in the context of mediation by Donald Trump whom he described as a leader with a zeal to foster peace in the world . This question asked at Chatham House event titled, “ The Rise and Role of India”, was replied quite emphatically by the minister , who said “ most of the job in solving Kashmir ( issue) has already been done in three phases – removal of Article 370 , economic activity and Assembly elections of 2024 which saw huge turnout, thus rejecting the third party meditation. Jaishankar declared a punch line “Once the stolen part of J&K- PoK- under the illegal occupation, Kashmir is solved.”
Indeed, J&K has witnessed a tremendous change in terms of optics and ground reality since abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. .These changes have deflated almost all the narratives that Pakistan propagated about Kashmir that the land and the people are up in arms against what it calls “Indian occupation of the territory.” But it did not learn any lessons. It continued with its narratives of falsehood and distortions, and it has support of a couple of countries- China and Turkey- on the issue, but the world at large, including Islamic and western countries ignored all its pleas.
After the return of Donald Trump to the White House, Pakistan has resumed its drum beat of mediation and the UN resolutions. It sees a lot in its favour with the Trump administration announcing $350 million aid for maintenance and servicing of F-16 Fighter jets. It sees a sort of breakthrough in the US-Pak relations. This will embolden it to raise Kashmir issue again and remind the Us that how it had been ally in three different phases – as a member of the US led international alliances like SEATO , and it was in the front line to arrange fighters to fight Soviet Troops in Afghanistan , and finally as a member of the coalition of war on terror following 9/11 .
India cannot ignore these developments and the mischief –mongering of Pakistanis.
