INDIAN Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has again hurled threats
on Pakistan warning it to change the thinking or face disintegration. Speaking at two different rallies, he also boasted that India is ready to assist Pakistan if the neighbouring country is serious enough to combat terror on its soil.
Pakistan has promptly rejected the statement with the contempt it deserved pointing out that Indian Minister, who has also become a laughing stock across the world for his insane acts, has made a ridiculous statement. The remarks of the Indian Minister came in the backdrop of over two months of crippling curfew in occupied-Kashmir where Indian troops have subjected Kashmiris to all sorts of atrocities in a bid to silence them from raising voice for their right to self-determination. That is why, in its reaction, Pakistan has asked India to withdraw itself from perpetrating worst order state terrorism against the innocent people of India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) instead offering to commit its troops in Pakistan. Indian Defence Minister seems to have very short memory as he has forgotten what happened to his forces when they carried out aggression in Balakot. India hatched conspiracies to cause fall of the then East Pakistan and is now again dreaming of disintegrating the rest of the country as it sees it the real hurdle in the way of its expansionist designs. Statement of Rajnath has once again substantiated the widely-held belief in Pakistan that India has not accepted the creation of Pakistan and has always remained on the look out to harm it in different ways. This behaviour is in sharp contrast to the peace overtures by successive governments in Pakistan that tried their level best to cultivate India for the sake of peace and security of the region. Previous government of PML(N) steadfastly pursued the policy of ‘friendship with all neighbours including India’ but regrettably that sincere approach was never reciprocated. Prime Minister Imran Khan too has been extending olive branch to New Delhi and even expressed optimism that electoral victory of Modi could help resolve longstanding issues between the two nuclear armed neighbours but that expectation did not materialize and instead the Indian PM took unilateral action of annexing Kashmir forcibly. Indian leaders know that Pakistan is fully capable of meeting any challenge to its security and survival but the statements seem to be attempts to divert attention from serious situation in occupied Kashmir. It is also regrettable that despite all round progress achieved by Pakistan in addressing the menace of terrorism, India is still harping on the old string of cross-border terrorism. That it is a deliberate attempt to pressurize and malign Pakistan is also evident from the latest remarks of the US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells who asked Islamabad to do more to prevent militants from ‘operating within its borders’. These coordinated statements should leave no doubt in the minds of Pakistani policy makers about the need for drawing red-lines for safeguarding interests of the country.
