Mr Arif Nizami, in his recent article “Terms of endearment” (21 April), has briefly touched the issue of Siachen, lives lost without firing a bullet and latest tragedy where 129 soldiers lay buried under deep snow, visit of Mian Nawaz Sharif to Gayari, India-Pakistan relations and President Zardari’s visit to India. It is true that Nawaz Sharif has not been accused of being traitor but his statement lacked logic and conviction as he did not reflect on the consequences of his much stated unilateral withdrawal plan.
Militarily a nonstarter the plan even does not hold good politically. Nawaz Sharif should know that Siachen is part of Kashmir forcibly occupied by India through aggression and Pakistan only moved to retake its frontiers forcibly occupied by Indians but failed to retrieve it due to the advantage gained by the Indians by occupying heights.
It is true that troops keep dying due to harsh weather and equally true that government is spending about 50 million a day as compared to Indian expenditure that is more than ours but we are the aggrieved party so any unilateral action on our part will weaken our case and it could be disastrous for our Kashmir policy/stand (if we have any).Gen Kayani should have refrained from making a political statement and loose talk on issues that is the sole prerogative of the government. It was loose talk that prompted Indian’s to welcome Gen Kayani’s statement as it fits in their scheme of things. To resolve the Siachen issue India has to pull out her forces to the positions held before 13 April 1984 without any conditions and Pakistan should reciprocate this gesture.
Unfortunately, we are bound by Simla agreement to resolve our issues bilaterally and no third party can intervene or come forward to perform the role of mediator. 39 years is a long period; the unresolved issues and matters of conflict stay where they were from day one. India is a big country with vast resources and strong democracy, it also enjoys good relations with countries that matter, and exploits them to their fullest advantage. India’s defence budget is increasing every year whereas our legislators want reduction in defence budget without giving due weightage to the challenges faced by the country.
What did President Zardari’s visit to India bring us? What did he gain by having a 15 minutes interaction with PM Manmohan Singh? A commitment to increase trade between two countries; we cannot run with the hare and fight with the wolf as well. We can’t have India turn our fertile fields into barren lands by building hundreds of dams on our rivers yet continue trade with it. This does not sound logical.
India has become strong due to our concessions given to her over the years and has now openly started interfering in our internal affairs. Hafiz Saeed’s example should be enough to open our eyes. “Aman Ki Asha” has given us nothing except turning soft on issues that warranted a hard and stern stand.
We shall continue wasting our time in fruitless meetings at all levels as India would never budge an inch from its principled stand. Why should we pin hopes that India would agree to redeployment of forces in Siachen as rightly said by the writer. We must forget everything and concentrate on resolution of water dispute with India before it is too late.
Looking at the political turmoil in the country and in-house fighting within the political parties and confrontation with the judiciary, it appears that PPP’s comeback cannot be ruled out. Under the circumstances the writer has posed very relevant question: “Will the current Indo-Pak goodwill last?”. No sir, India will never budge an inch as it has gained everything by politically outsmarting our various leaders and leading them to take the direction that it wants them to take. We must be careful for now as well as in future about any traps that India might lay.
MUKHTAR AHMED
Karachi
