Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal |
Pakistan’s economic stability is not acceptable to India. Therefore, it has been hatching conspiracies against Pakistan-China Economic Corridor since the begging. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approached the Chinese leadership to desist it from investing in Pakistan.
Simultaneously, the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has been sponsoring terrorist attacks on Chinese engineers and workers to sabotage the project. Moreover, India has been struggling to engage Pakistan in an arms race by increasing its military hardware buildup and purchases and threatening statements.
It has been financing and training the Baloch Liberation Movement (BLA) recruits in Afghanistan. On November 23, 2018, three BLA militants attacked the Chinese Consulate in Karachi.
The CPEC is a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping ‘Belt-Road Initiative (BRI). Since the start of work on the CPEC, the country’s economy has had positive indicators. It has been attracting foreign investors. Currently, Saudi Arab and the United Arab Emirates have been negotiating billions of US dollars worth projects with the government of Pakistan.
Indeed, it is not acceptable to Delhi because the Indian ruling elite is convinced that economically stable Pakistan undermines its influence in the region and beyond. Therefore, it has been hatching conspiracies against the CPEC. The Indians are cognizant of the fact that once CPEC implemented; it would transform the economy of Balochistan. The people of Balochistan would be its greatest beneficiary in the long term.
Read more: World Bank concerned over the macroeconomic stability of Pakistan
Therefore, the Indian intelligence agency RAW crafted a network in Balochistan to obstruct the construction of CPEC infrastructure. It has been financing and training the Baloch Liberation Movement (BLA) recruits in Afghanistan. On November 23, 2018, three BLA militants attacked the Chinese Consulate in Karachi.
The law enforcement personnel and guards were successful in shooting them at the entrance of the Consulate building. Thus, the devastating attack was prevented. All the attackers were shot dead, two policemen martyred and two visa applicants died. Despite it, the terrorists terrorize the Chinese working in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan has increased their security.
The FATF has been following the double standards, ie it is investigating Pakistan and completely ignoring India’s involvement in terrorism.
The primary objective of the attackers was to establish that Karachi is not a safe city for the Chinese nationals. The investigation team confirmed that BLA attackers were trained and financed by the Indian intelligence agency. On 11 January, Karachi Police Chief Dr. Amir Ahmed Sheikh claimed that the attack on “the Chinese Consulate in Karachi was planned in Afghanistan and carried out with the assistance of Indian Intelligence Agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).”
Importantly, it was not the first time that RAW targeted the Chinese nationals. It had established a terrorist network in Baluchistan to incapacitate the CPEC. Fortunately, Pakistani law enforcement agencies had unearthed the network and arrested its main handler in Pakistan, serving Indian Navy officer and RAW spy Kulbhushan Yadav. Paradoxically, during the recent meeting at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), India raised unnecessary objections over Pakistan’s efforts and plans against money laundering and terror financing.
Read more: Have the dark clouds of FATF started to wither away?
The Indian representatives amazingly forget India’s involvement in financing and perpetrating terrorist acts in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the international community’s response to India’s financing BLA is not judicious. The FATF has been following the double standards, ie it is investigating Pakistan and completely ignoring India’s involvement in terrorism.
The Modi government tried to timid people of Pakistan by announcing that it had conducted surgical strikes on the night of September 28-29, 2016. Pakistan responded rationally and rejected its phantom surgical strikes claim and demanded pieces of evidence, which India failed to provide.
Islamabad is capable and confident to defend itself. It is conventional, and nuclear weapons capabilities are sustaining strategic equilibrium between the belligerent neighbors.
The alarming factor is that Modi Government celebrated the surgical strikes day on September 29, 2018, and also made it part of both the Indian Army’s Land Warfare Doctrine-2018 (LWD-2018) released on December 19, 2018, and also the Joint Doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces-2017.
Nevertheless, Pakistan is prepared to respond to India’s surgical strikes stratagem. Hence, any India’s military adventurism will be catastrophic for both the states in particular and region in general. India with the support of the United States has been struggling to establish its hegemony in South Asia and the Indian Ocean.
Read more: Modi’s economic reforms are slowing down India’s GDP growth
Unlike the other South Asian States, Pakistan is not accepting New Delhi’s dictates in its domestic and foreign relations. Islamabad is capable and confident to defend itself. It is conventional, and nuclear weapons capabilities are sustaining strategic equilibrium between the belligerent neighbors. Therefore, India has been employing hybrid warfare tactics against Pakistan.
Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal is Associate Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He is also an advisor on Non-Proliferation to SASSI, London and a course coordinator at Foreign Services Academy for the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Email: jaspal_99@hotmail.com. This piece was first published in Pakistan Observer. It has been republished with the author’s permission. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.