PRIME Minister Imran Khan on Thursday warned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane against continuing the anti-Pakistan war rhetoric ramped up recently by India. In an emotionally charged speech at Mirpur city of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) where a rally to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day was held, the Prime Minister warned Modi that any aggression against Pakistan would be his last mistake. A similar message was also conveyed by the military leadership at the Corps Commanders meeting, while referring to threats emanating from the eastern border, said the armed forces were ready to thwart designs of the enemy. Wars have never solved any problem and the recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya prove it beyond any doubt that these complicate problems further and compound woes of the nation. However, lunatic personalities can do anything because of their short-sighted vision and extremist mindset and, therefore, logic demands measures should be in place to safeguard interests of the country. Pakistan has long been exercising utmost restraint in the face of war-mongering from the other side and a rejoinder was long overdue. The Prime Minister has told his Indian counterpart that his 05 August action of annexing Occupied Kashmir illegally with India was ‘first mistake’ and any misadventure against Pakistan would be his last mistake. We may, however, point out that Modi has consistently and deliberately been making ‘mistakes’ and airstrikes at Balakot in February 2019 were also part of the series of mistakes that the Indian Premier should have avoided. Despite the fact that he received a befitting response from Pakistan Air Force and his country was globally humiliated, he has not learnt any lesson and continues with his belligerent posture including extreme measures to change demography of Occupied Kashmir, building of Ram Temple at the site of demolished historical Babri Masjid and anti-Muslim legislation aimed at rendering Muslims as second-rate citizens. As pointed out by the Prime Minister, actions of Modi have virtually internationalized the Kashmir dispute and also exposed India’s treatment of and designs about minorities. Now Kashmir is openly discussed all over the world with important capitals emphasizing the need for a peaceful resolution of the longstanding dispute that could trigger war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistan has also been sensitizing the international community about grave implications of the illegal measures taken by the Modi Government in Occupied Kashmir on regional security as Pakistan cannot afford to sit idly if its core interests are attacked. There is a real possibility of any misadventure by Modi Junta as it is under intense pressure because of its own policies that have, for the first time in over seven decades, brought his country under minute scrutiny by the international public opinion. But surely, any aggression would bring more humiliation and shame to India as before as Pakistan armed forces, which secured victory in the unconventional war against terrorism, is trained and committed enough to take on any aggressor in the conventional war. People of Pakistan stand fully united behind the armed forces and the unanimity seen during observance of Kashmir Solidarity Day should serve as a clear message to the enemy that it will meet a response in kind. There is, however, need for Pakistan to become more active on the diplomatic front as despite being on the right side, it has not been able to muster as strong support for the Kashmir cause as it should have. No doubt, the UN General Assembly has discussed the Kashmir situation thrice in recent weeks but the discussion loses real importance in the absence of any public statement by the world body. Same is the case with the OIC as attempts by Pakistan to convene a special meeting of the organization to discuss the grave situation in Occupied Kashmir are scuttled by no other than our close friends. This has also been lamented by the Prime Minister and, therefore, all concerned should have a brain-storming session to ponder over what went wrong and where and what the way forward is. Kuala Lumpur summit offered a unique opportunity to project the cause of Kashmir in its right perspective but we lost the chance in the hope of gains on other forums. There should be no repeat of the mistake.
