In follow-up action on last Friday's National Security Council meeting decisions, Prime Minister's Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, has sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon drawing his attention to "deliberate and unprovoked" firing by Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary. Dwelling at length on different aspects of the issue, Aziz reminded the UN chief that implementation of UNSC resolutions "promising holding of a plebiscite under the UN auspices for self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir remain valid though unimplemented to date", going on to aver that "to fulfil that promise is in the interest of durable peace and security in the region." He also informed the Secretary General that as many as 20 cease-fire violations along the LoC and 22 on the WB took place in the first eleven days of the current month. In all, 174 cease-fire violations have been reported from the LoC and 60 from the WB during the current year.
Notably, unlike frequent exchanges of small arms fire in the period preceding cease-fire agreement of 2003, the latest outbreak of violence has involved mortar fire aimed at civilian population, leaving 12 people dead and another 52 injured. No wonder an Indian Home Ministry official told the media that "the prime minister's office has instructed us to ensure that Pakistan suffers deep and heavy losses". As a result, innocent civilians have been suffering on both sides. Pakistan's security forces, of course, were not going to take the losses lying down. Retaliatory fire is reported to have claimed several civilian lives on the other side of the border as well, which is lamentable, indeed. The immediate problem is to stop cease-fire violations. While continuing to engage in relentless violence both sides have been accusing one another of causing provocation. UN Secretary General has expressed concern over the situation. But words alone will not do. It was precisely to deal with such situations that the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) remains on the ground consequent to 1948 UN Security Council resolutions that pledged holding of a plebiscite in Kashmir. The mechanism needs to be activated to play its due role.
As regards the wider picture, India's new Hindu fundamentalist Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has made it plain that he has no intention to resume the peace dialogue with Pakistan to settle outstanding issues of conflict, including Kashmir. Instead, in the first five months of his rule he has remained focused on strengthening his grip on Kashmir and showing disdain for Pakistan's peace overtures. Given the background and the fiery rhetoric emanating from New Delhi, resumption of peace process seems to be a waning hope. So far as LoC and WB violations are concerned, Pakistan has no choice but to respond in kind. But a return to the hostilities that preceded the cease-fire agreement is in neither country's interest. Hopefully better sense will prevail soon. They have a lot to gain in terms of trade and business opportunities from normalisation of relations. But if India is unwilling to play ball, the way forward for Pakistan is to continue to stick to its stance on Kashmir as recognised by UN resolutions, and move on. The best bet for peace and progress for this country is to focus on internal security and economic development; and to look to its other neighbours to forge linkages with regional trade and security organisations. As for Kashmir, numerous examples from different parts of the world show that time does nothing to extinguish a people's desire to break free.
Comments
Comments are closed.