Pakistan Premier, Nawaz Sharif's address in the UN General Assembly on Wednesday was nothing new but as expected. Full of rhetoric and stale narratives the speech focused mostly on Kashmir, Kashmir and Kashmir. There was no possibility that he was going to say anything else. Raking up the alleged human rights violations, celebrating the jihadi terrorist Burhan, seeking UN or US intervention in Kashmir were all on predictable lines. Those who saw him reading out the script could easily feel that he was being remote-controlled, like a robot doing the command of his namesake and super-boss, Raheel Sharif, the Pakistan Army Chief.
Despite Sharif's plea for the UN intervention in Kashmir, the latter categorically ruled it out in Ban-ki-Moon ignoring the entire speech of Pakistan's Prime Minister.. Pakistan's ability to impress the world powers has diminished considerably over the years due to its duplicitous conduct. America has poured billions in the belief that Pakistan would help it stabilise Afghanistan. Exercising its right to reply to Sharif since he had specifically blamed India in his address, an official representative of India did well to nail the white lies the Pakistani leader had uttered in his 20-minute address in the UN General Assembly.
Pakistan has engaged in sheltering, training the Taliban which targets US interests in that god-forsaken country and which shows no sign of returning to normalcy anytime soon. Unfortunately, America has no stamina to continue fighting in Afghanistan and would like to leave as early as possible, a fact being exploited by Pakistan to prop up its own creation, the Taliban. Should the US hand over Afghanistan to the Taliban, there will be a greater threat to India from the jihadi groups relieved from the Afghan sector.
It is of utmost importance for regional peace that Afghanistan does not slip into the Pakistani hands through its proxy, the Taliban. Pakistan, a failed State mired in internal conflict and divisions, has diverted a disproportionately large part of its public finances on waging an overt and covert war over Kashmir. India has managed to grow militarily and economically without yielding an inch of Kashmir after the initial folly of allowing it to retain what is now called Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
The pros and cons of a tough response to Pakistan do not, honestly, lend themselves to any clarity. India can launch an attack and risk disruption in our progress. Or India can keep on bolstering the defences, border and internal, institutionalize security processes to prevent the kind of lapses which allowed the four jihadis to attack the Army establishment in Uri.
There were several breaches in the standard operating systems put in place to guard against exactly such attacks. The responsibility for Uri lapses must be fixed and the guilty punished. We reiterate that the most cost-effective response to Pakistan is to whittle down the special status of Kashmir. If those who swore loyalty to the Indian Constitution do not keep their solemn word, India should be under no obligation to keep its on granting them extraordinary autonomy.
Meanwhile, exercising its right to reply to Sharif since he had specifically blamed India in his address, an official representative of India did well to nail the white lies the Pakistani leader had uttered in his 20-minute address in the UN General Assembly. On Monday, we can count on Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to hold a mirror to Sharif and Sharif.
