By Muhammad Talha Kashif
Amidst the talks of war, I always try to reassure all about how not inevitable it is now in the Southeast Asian context. While reading Abbas Nair’s column titled “On the brink again?”, it was well structured and written that the Indian policy of isolating Pakistan is not workable this time. Nasir highlights the factors that have led to India’s negative or distrusted reputation globally. The West, unlike in the past, is not willing to take India’s allegations seriously.
This is a notable pattern in the history of Indian elections, particularly since the Modi regime, that whenever the elections are near, such sort of incidents do happen. This time, the Prime Minister of India has fully authorized the military to operate as necessary for India’s security and sovereignty. This irregularity in Modi’s behavior raises eyebrows. Since the populist leader has always taken advantage, especially during elections, from his anti-Pakistan stance, giving up his authority in this matter is like letting a golden bird slip out of his hands.
There may be factors involved that may have led Mr. Modi to act in such a way. The most important and noticeable factor is the significant risk to the economy and the fear of losing foreign investments. In addition to this, the second and highly important factor is the nonchalant attitude of the West, particularly the US, to the Indian cries. India has already been in thick waters for their National Security operations abroad. The internationally highlighted case of a Sikh citizen killed in the US may still be on the global powers’ minds.
In the recent past, Pakistan has also provided some evidence to the Chinese government of India’s involvement in the attacks on Chinese citizens in Pakistan. Whether or not this time Beijing’s attitude this time portrays that they hold a grudge against India, which is evident from their open support for Pakistan concerning its sovereignty. It is debatable whether Beijing’s actions are driven out of friendship with Pakistan, distrust of India, or the fear of suffering from the inevitable consequences of the war between the two nuclear arsenals.
India, also being unable to provide solid evidence against Pakistan, is not being taken seriously by the West, which is already worried in the context of the ongoing conflicts. The war in Ukraine, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the US-Israel tensions of the Iranian nuclear capability do not allow the attention of the globe to divert to another conflict, which can potentially be more disastrous than all of these combined. Thus, the world powers are trying to cool the temperature down in the region, while some are even willing to mediate.
This reminds us to thank all those who helped develop the mass-destruction weapon, which has become the weapon of mass saviour. At last, it is the weapon of deterrence that has deterred India from doing what it desperately wants to do.