- The past week was a litmus test for the present government’s foreign policy
The Indian-perpetrated war hysteria that breached Pakistan’s sovereignty last week manifested itself in the very fabric of Pakistani society and media all across the world. The two nuclear-armed, arch rivals’ castigation of what breeds in Pakistan and is infiltrated across the border, and the tactical use of war mongering as a consensus builder in Narendra Modi’s run up to elections has opened a new dimension to the archaic legacy of Pak-India relations.
With regards to foreign policy decisions for this new government, what has primarily worked is how the security and intelligence establishment, government and media houses have so far all been on the same page. The same narrative, for which the elected government is the establishment’s mouthpiece, has been reiterated by all media outlets. However, to say that the government is merely the spokesperson, would be a gross exaggeration and limiting the role of democratic governance.
In previous decades too skirmishes across the Line of Control have occurred, however, this time around the breach of air space twice by Indian planes has formalised what a government by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) means for the South Asian region and the prospects for regional peace and prosperity.
The military adventurism exercised by India received a befitting response from the Pakistani government when two fighter jets by the Indian Air Force were downed by the Pakistan Air Force; one pilot quickly taken in custody when the plane fell on Pakistani soil. The captured Wing Commander Abhinandan got to the high point of his career when he released a statement from Pakistan highlighting the humane environment in which he was treated with dignity. When presented as a gesture of peace on 1 March 2019, he returned to India and criticised the state’s media outlets for over exaggeration of news which could’ve been done factually and in a more professional manner.
Time and again, the security apparatus of the state and the civilian leadership, with the help of media asked for de-escalation and a joint investigation of the bombed Jash e Muhammad site that the Indian government had alleged was used for the dreaded Pulwama Attack on 14 February. All the media outlets in the Pakistani hierarchy proclaimed that peace should prevail, by concerted joint efforts, however, the address by the Inter Services Public Relations spokesperson Major General Asim Ghafoor and Prime Minister Imran Khan outwardly added that the state would hit back for any time its sovereignty was breached. These two statements, given synonymously to signify the strength that the state carries, unified the Pakistanis on all fronts. This will perhaps go down in history as a time when trouble at borders not only united everyone at home but also instilled in them a sense security, and the common sentiments regarding caution at the use of force while protecting the sanctity of the state resonated with Pakistanis from all across the world.
With regards to foreign policy decisions for this new government, what has primarily worked is how the security and intelligence establishment, government and media houses have so far all been on the same page
For the Hindus, this was a time when the survival of the identity became the national narrative, and the Modi-led government’s robust stance at targeting the masterminds behind the Pulwama Attack inside Pakistan, multi laterally, was synonymous to a national policy. While the Hindu nationalism was beating drums not only at the Line of Control, but in Kashmir as well, the spectators to the atrocities faced by Kashmiri people were using all fronts to condemn the action taken by the Indian army in the Valley. The dehumanising practices by the forces have been brought to the fore by Pakistan at local and international forums, a United Nations report, and more recently by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)’s 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held on 2 March 2019.
The issued statement read, “The OIC resolution also condemned in the strongest terms the recent wave of Indian terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and expressed deep concern over the atrocities and human rights violations in IOK [Indian Occupied Kashmir].” It also called for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions in the area and highlighted that the main bone of contention between Pakistan and India is the disputed Kashmir issue because of which peace in the South Asian region can’t be achieved. The OIC also acquired another resolution put forward by Pakistan regarding the violation of airspace by the IAF and condemned state-sponsored terrorism in Indian Occupied Kashmir.
The past week was a litmus test for the present government’s foreign policy decisions and their ability to hold a united front. All of these events have strengthened Pakistan’s position in the international community and repurposed the ill devices on which the state had been operating as fragmented. With the fruitful visit by Prince Muhammad bin Salman, pro-nationalist stance taken against the United States for Pakistan’s prominent role in the War on Terror, and tensions with India averted, so far the government has been keen and successful in keeping the domestic with the international and therefore ensure order in the house.