Malik Ashraf
THE State Department of USA in its annual report for 2019 on terrorism has stated “Although Pakistan’s National Action Plan calls to ensure that no armed militias are allowed to function in the country, several terrorist groups that focus on attacks outside the country continued to operate from Pakistani soil in 2019, including the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. The government and military acted inconsistently with respect to terrorist safe havens throughout the country. Authorities did not take sufficient action to stop certain terrorist groups and individuals from openly operating in the country.” Reportedly last week the US also thwarted Pakistan’s attempts to have an Indian national Venumadhav Dongra declared as a terrorist by the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee. The man was one of the four Indians who were active in Afghanistan for sponsoring terrorist attacks in Pakistan. According to media reports US had formally informed all members of the UNSC before the meeting that it was officially blocking and thus terminating a proposal to proscribe an Indian national by the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee.
Pakistan rightly rejected the annual report expressing disappointment and terming it self-contradictory and selective in its characterization of her efforts for countering terrorism and terrorist financing. It also expressed disappointment at the response of the UNSC Committee hoping that the listing request in regards to other three Indian nationals would be given due consideration in an objective and transparent manner. United States of America is a country which tries to announce its anti-terrorism credentials from every convenient roof-top and has even spent billions of dollars and sacrificed lives in fight against it, but regrettably effort has a selective hue. While it has kept continuously pressurizing Pakistan to do more in spite of its efforts— dictated by her own strategic interests to quell terrorism—and indiscriminate action against all terrorist entities based on its soil, it has never condemned the Indian involvement in incidents of terrorism within Pakistan.
The US and India are strategic partners and dictated by her strategic and commercial interests the former is prepared to cast aside all the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, international treaties and conventions. Pakistan has been under tremendous pressure by the US to proscribe certain organizations for their alleged involvement in terrorism and even used its influence on the UN to have them declared as terrorist entities. USA is also the taker of the Indian narrative of cross-border terrorism which encourages India to continue with its state terrorism in the India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The repeal of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that ended the special status of IO&JK and its subsequent amalgamation in the Indian Union through Jammu and Kashmir Re-organization Act 2019, in blatant violation of the UN resolutions, also has not invoked any condemnation from the US, except for muffled concern on the deteriorating situation in the valley. US double standards are also reflected in signing the deal with India for transfer of civil nuclear technology to her in violation of the provisions of Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, the push to make India a member of the NSG and the move to make India a permanent member of the UNSC. The US and its western allies look the other way to the Indian oppression in IO&JK and its involvement in sponsoring terrorism within Pakistan which is an irrefutable reality in view of the confessions made by Kalbhushan Jhadav an Indian naval officer who was arrested in Pakistan and his subsequent conviction. It is pertinent to point out that the International Court of Justice where India filed a case for having his conviction quashed and his repatriation to India, did not challenge the grounds on which he was convicted but only asked Pakistan to accord consular access to India and completion of the legal formalities in regards to appeal against the sentence in consonance with its own laws. It clearly indicated that the grounds on which he was convicted were not objected to by the ICJ and Pakistan stood vindicated in that regard.
The US and its allies by showing indifference to the snow-balling deterioration in the regional security situation due to the Indian actions in IO&JK and its continued belligerent posture against Pakistan are actually encouraging India to persist with her oppressive actions in the valley and aggressive designs against Pakistan. India under Modi, an adherent to the supremacist RSS ideology, is a real threat to the security of this region. Pakistan has repeatedly warned the world about the dangers lurking on the horizon. Pakistan has also been warning the world about yet another false-flag operation by India to divert the attention of the world community from the situation in IO&JK. Any such indiscretion by India would surely provoke a matching response like the one on 26 February last year. One never knows what could transpire subsequently. Pakistan and India are nuclear powers and any clash between them could prove disastrous for the region and beyond. The situation warrants immediate attention by the United Nations as a peace promoting world body before it is too late.
Peace in the world cannot be promoted through selective adherence to the principles of the UN Charter. Unfortunately it is because of the defiance of the UN Charter by the big powers that the UN has almost become dysfunctional in regards to solving the issues of Palestine and Kashmir in conformity with its resolutions. The US and its allies need to look beyond their strategic interests and fulfil their obligations in regards to promoting world peace. They must remember that an armed conflict between Pakistan and India would not only lead to catastrophic consequences for entire region but would also damage their so-called strategic and commercial interests in this region.
— The writer is freelance columnist based in Islamabad.
