NOVANEWS
By Sajjad Shaukat
India once again escaped from negotiations by cancelling National Security Adviser (NSA)-level
talks with Pakistan, scheduled to be held in New Delhi on August 23-24. In this regard, as part of
pre-conditions, Spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup said that
New Delhi opposes Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz’s meeting with pro-
independence leaders of Kashmir.
Turning down Indian advice, Pakistan’s Foreign Office statement said that the meeting of
Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders with Sartaj Aziz would ensure a more “meaningful and result-
oriented” dialogue between the national security advisors of both the countries, elaborating, “The
Hurriyat leaders are true representatives of the Kashmiri people of the Indian occupied
Kashmir—to find a lasting solution of the Kashmir dispute”.
It is notable that during the talks between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, at Ufa,
Islamabad has conveyed to New Delhi a comprehensive agenda to discuss all outstanding issues,
including Kashmir as well as terrorism.
Therefore, New Delhi’s insistence to restrict the agenda for the dialogue to terrorism or cross-
border terrorism only, demonstrated India’s confounded policy towards Pakistan.
It is mentionable that Pakistan-India foreign secretary level talks were held in Islamabad on
March 3, this year. In this respect, Indian External Affairs Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry discussed contentious issues including
Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and other bilateral issues. While, last year, India
postponed the Secretary level talks with Pakistan; under the pretext that during his Indian visit
Sartaj Aziz met Kashmiri leaders.
In fact, a lack of seriousness on India’s part to settle all disputes, especially Kashmir issue has
compelled New Delhi to follow a self-contradictory and confused strategy towards Islamabad.
Hence, New Delhi earnestly found various pretexts to cancel peace talks, while shifting the
blame to Islamabad. For example, in 2002, under the pretension of terrorist attack on the Indian
parliament, India postponed the dialogue process. Again, in 2008, India cancelled the ‘composite
dialogue’ on the pretext of Mumbai terror attacks.
Particularly, on May 27, 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Pakistan’s
Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff in the oath-taking ceremony proved faultless, because Modi raised
baseless issues like terrorism as pre-condition to advance the Pak-Indian dialogue. He said that
slow pace of trial against the terrorists of the Mumbai 26/11 terror case; being held in Pakistan is
But, Indian prime minister ignored the fact that on July 19, 2013, the Indian former home
ministry and ex-investigating officer Satish Verma disclosed that terror-attacks in Mumbai in
November 26, 2008 and assault on Indian Parliament in January 12, 2001 were carried out by the
Indian government to strengthen anti-terrorism laws.
As regards the case of cross-border terrorism, India has shown ambivalent approach which can
be judged from various recent developments. In this connection, on July 27, 2015, three gunmen
dressed in army uniforms killed at least seven people, including three civilians and four
policemen in the Indian district of Gurdaspur, Punjab.
Without any investigation, Indian high officials and media started accusing Pakistan, its banned
militant outfits and intelligence agencies for the Gurdaspur incident. Indian Police remarked that
the attackers are from Indian-held Kashmir, and some said that they were Sikh separatists, while
Indian Punjab police chief claimed that the three gunmen were Muslim, but as yet unidentified.
Contradicting speculations, India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament that
the gunmen came from Pakistan.
Khalistan Movement Chief Manmohan Singh stated that the Gurdaspur incident is a conspiracy
of Indian secret agency RAW to defame Pakistan.
Besides, in the recent past, prior to the US President Obama’s second visit to New Delhi, Indian
intelligence agencies orchestrated a boat drama to defame Pakistan, allegedly reporting that a
Pakistani fishing boat as a Pakistan-based outfit group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was intercepted by
Indian Coast Guards, off the coast of Porebandar, Gujarat. And Indian Coast Guard crew set the
boat on fire and it exploded. But, its reality exposed Indian terrorism, because, some Indian high
officials admitted that there was no such boat which came from Pakistan.
Similarly, India intends to obtain various hidden purposes by blaming Islamabad for terrorism.
First of all, it wants to divert the attention of the international community from the involvement
of RAW which has well-established its network in Afghanistan, and is fully assisting cross-
border incursions and terror-activities in various regions of Pakistan through Baloch separatist
elements and anti-Pakistan groups like Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), Jundullah and
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) including their affiliated outfits. On a number of occasions,
these insurgent groups claimed responsibility for their acts of sabotage.
It is noteworthy that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani realized that Afghanistan and Pakistan are
facing similar challenges of terrorism and will combat this threat collectively. On May 18, 2015,
the two countries signed the security agreement—Pakistan’s primary spy agency ISI and
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) to share intelligence and conduct
coordinated operations against terrorists. And, frequent visits of Pak-Afghan civil and military
leaders to each other’s country also annoyed India.
It is worth-mentioning that Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif accompanied
by the DG of ISI went to Kabul on December 17, 2014. During his meeting with his Afghan
counterpart, President Ashraf Ghani and the ISAF commander, he presented the evidence of
linkage between the massacre of children at Peshawar school and TTP sanctuaries in
Afghanistan. He also asked about action against the TTP and handing over of its chief Mullah
Fazlullah to Pakistan. In response, Afghan government and US have started taking action against
the TTP. A number of TTP militants have been killed and captured in Afghanistan, while
Fazlullah survived in a drone attack.
It is regrettable that New Delhi is destabilizing the regional countries in general and Afghanistan
and Pakistan in particular. In order to obtain its secret designs, aimed at augmenting Indian
hegemony in the region, India is foiling the peace process between Afghanistan and Pakistan by
managing terrorist attacks like the recent ones in Afghanistan which revived old blame game
And, waging a prolonged war in Afghanistan, the US and other NATO countries have realized
that after the withdrawal of foreign troops, Afghanistan would be thrown in an era of uncertainly
and civil war. They recognize the fact and terrorism or stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan is
interrelated. Hence, US-led developed nations which also spent billions of dollars for the
development of Afghanistan have repeatedly agreed that without Islamabad’s help, stability
cannot be achieved there. In this connection, a meeting was hosted by Pakistan between the
Afghan officials and representatives of Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan in Murree (On July 8,
this year) and dialogue were conducted for an Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process,
while the representatives of China and America also participated in the meeting.
In this backdrop of growing engagements of Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and US, Indian
desperation in Afghanistan is increasing. Moreover, New Delhi is trying to sabotage the China-
Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Recent terror-attacks in Pakistan and Balochistan might be
noted as instance. Indian RAW has also created a heavily funded China-Pakistan and
Afghanistan specific desk to target growing Pak-China-Afghanistan relations.
Furthermore, on the direction of the Indian leader of the fundamentalist party BJP and Prime
Minister Modi, Indian forces have accelerated unprovoked shelling across the Line of Control
and Working Boundary, while creating war-like situation between Pakistan and India.
Notably, Islamabad has decided to raise the question of Indian cross-border terrorism and RAW
involvement in Pakistan at the UNO forum, with strong evidence in light of open statements of
Indian defence minister and Prime Minister Modi who recently confirmed assistance to anti-
Pakistan elements including separation of East Pakistan.
Nevertheless, due to the new developments which favour stability in Pakistan, India in
frustration, follows confounded policy towards Pakistan.