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Posted by admin in Bajrang Dal, China-Pakistan-Russia, Foreign Policy, Gujarat Massacre By Narebdra Modi & Hindutva Terrorists RSS, Hindutva Hate RSS Narendra Modi, Hindutva India Bigotry, India A Nuclear Danger to Humanity, INDIA'S HINDUISM, Indian Army, Indian Military Lies & False Propaganda, The Hindutva Nazi Mind, VHP on June 6th, 2020
Part-1
Asif Haroon Raja
Indo-Pakistan antagonism
India and Pakistan became independent countries in 1947 but India till to-date has not reconciled to Pakistan’s existence. Kashmir which was left behind by the outgoing British as an unfinished agenda of Partition has remained a bone of contention and has bedeviled their relations. India has been defying UN resolutions giving right of self-determination to the Kashmiris on one pretext or the other for the last 72 years. Each and every Pakistani leader extended a hand of friendship but was spurned by India.
The already tense and strained relations between the two arch rivals flared up after India blatantly abrogated Articles 370 and 35A of Indian Constitution on 5 August and made the disputed Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) integral part of India. Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh were declared as the two newly created Indian Union Territories.
What it implied was conversion of Line of Control (LoC) in J&K and Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh into permanent borders. Both Pakistan and China rejected India’s claim saying it is in complete disregard of the UN resolutions and international and bilateral agreements. New Delhi, however, hastened to state that the new arrangement didn’t affect the status of LAC with China.
Fascist and Hindutva loving Narendra Modi couldn’t have gambled to take this perilous step to annoy two nuclear powers in its immediate neighborhood without a wink from USA and Israel, both having their axes to grind. He had already taken on board Arab Gulf States.
Modi couldn’t have locked down 9 million Kashmiris in IOK for 10 months and subjected them to horrendous oppression without the support of his patrons. Promulgation of anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC law in December 2019 followed by new domicile law to change the demography of Muslim dominated IOK were part of the bigger design.
Megalomaniac Modi’s madness didn’t end here. India’s civil and military leaders started hurling threats of annexing Azad J&K (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). A new map was circulated showing AJK-GB part of India, and Aksai Chin in occupation of China, as part of Ladakh. Taking into account the Indian force level of 950,000 regular and paramilitary forces in IOK, the threats carried weight.
The chain of events taking place in quick succession following the subjugation of IOK were part of the overall game plan conceived by Indo-US-Israeli nexus to place India at a higher pedestal in the region.
Reasons which impelled Modi to initiate risk-filled acts:
India calculatedly upped the ante
With these considerations in view, India first carried out a false flag operation in Pathankot on 14 February 2019, in which 40 Indian CRPF soldiers were sacrificed. India backed by USA and some European nations promptly blamed Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Pakistan. Purpose was to garner Hindu votes for Modi’s re-election in May 2019 by fomenting war hysteria against Pakistan, defaming Kashmiri freedom struggle, preparing grounds for blacklisting Pakistan by FATF, and above all creating justification for launching a surgical strike.
On 22 February, twelve Indian Mirage-2000 took part in the air intrusion on an imaginary hideout of JeM in Balakot to avenge the deaths of Indian soldiers. Vigilance and forceful chase by PAF jets forced the intruders to fly back in panic and hastily drop 3 Israeli supplied Spike missiles in a deserted hillock causing no damage.
Pakistan’s befitting response
Although Indian mission was a complete failure, PAF gave a befitting response on the night of 26 February. The attacking jets locked three high value targets (Command HQ, Brigade HQ, ammunition dump) deep inside IOK, but under the policy of restraint, hit vacant areas in close vicinity of intended targets. Gen Rawat survived by the skin of his teeth, but a loud message was conveyed not to mess with nuclear Pakistan.
These strikes were followed by an air duel on 27th morning in which PAF jets struck down one Su-30 flown by Israeli pilot and one MiG-21 flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan of IAF and captured the latter after he ejected. Another Indian helicopter with its crew was downed by panicky Indian air defence.
Pakistan also responded to India’s plan to strike 8 targets inside Pakistan by Brahmo cruise missiles by deploying its missiles to hit 16 Indian cities. It took the heat out of Indian jingoism and temporarily broke the escalating cycle of violence.
Amalgamation of IOK by India
Notwithstanding the series of humiliating setbacks suffered by India, Modi’s re-election once again pumped him up to implement his fascist agenda which he couldn’t accomplish in his first term.
What encouraged ultra-supremacist Modi to change the status of IOK, maintain aggressive posture along the LoC in J&K, to continue brutally oppressing Kashmiris in IOK in contravention of 4th Geneva Convention, refuse to lift curfew in spite of the Covid-19 and mounting world pressure was his hope that he will be able to deflate the spirits of freedom fighters in 4-6 months by killing Kashmiri leaders, putting young boys in torture cells, raping women, jailing all political leaders, closing down their shops and businesses, and disrupting phones, TV and internet.
The other reason which comforted him was the raised troop level to 9,50,000, enabling Indian Northern Command (INC) to enforce lockdown with impunity, maintain defensive balance and have sufficient forces for offensives in GB and AJK at an opportune time.
While snatching the special status of IOK, Modi either discounted the Chinese factor, or was assured by his benefactors that China would not react due to its contracting economy for the first time in last 40 years, brewing tension in South China Sea, USA backed Taiwan reiterating its independent status, trade war with USA, the US recognizing Tibet as independent state, Trump blaming China for spreading Covid-19, and threatening to cut all ties, CIA sponsored protests of liberals in Hong Kong (HK) funded by National Endowment for Democracy based in Washington, and Trump’s pledge to revoke special status of HK in reaction to new extradition bill for criminals promulgated by Beijing.
Map Courtesy:Pakistan Defence
What emboldened Modi to absorb IOK was Pakistan’s frail economic conditions together with internal political polarization. He saw it as an opportunity to exploit and seize the moment.
The other possibility that cannot be ruled out is that in case current corona pandemic is US inspired and was China centric, it would have been assumed by the trio that China would be too engrossed in fighting the virus and will have little heart for any external adventure.
The US having declared China as its number one enemy is otherwise clamoring to emasculate China by stunting its economic and military growth through pampered India bloated as a counterweight to China and pivot of Indo-Pacific region.
With Ladakh under its belt, it became easier for Indian INC to execute a military operation in GB and annex if not whole, at least part of it through which CPEC passes. There would be still enough forces to undertake one main and two auxiliary efforts in AJK.
Indian military had stepped into Siachin Glacier in 1984 with an eye on GB and to monitor Karakorum Highway. RAW has been using that platform to stir political trouble in GB with the help of Balwaristan movement.
To undertake an offensive in GB, Indian military speeded up construction of 260 km long road along Shyok River to connect it with Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) near Karakorum Pass in last October under the plea that it was well inside the LAC. DBO, situated 8 miles away from Karakorum Pass was upgraded from a company-size post into a brigade-size military garrison with an airbase in 2019. This is what alarmed and spurred China to defeat India’s dangerous designs before it was too late.
To be continued
Author
Brig.Gen(Retd)Asif Haroon Raja
The writer is a retired Brig, war veteran, former Defence Attaché’ and Dean of Corps of Military Attaches’ in Cairo, defence & security analyst, international columnist, author of five books, Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Director Measac Research Center, Member CWC PESS and of Veterans Think Tank, and Member Council TJP. [email protected]
To be continued
The writer is a retired Brig, war veteran, former Defence Attaché’ and Dean of Corps of Military Attaches’ in Cairo, defence & security analyst, international columnist, author of five books, Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Director Measac Research Center, Member CWC PESS and of Veterans Think Tank, and Member Council TJP. [email protected]
Posted by Dr. Salman in India A Nuclear Danger to Humanity, INEPT, INEPT INDIAN NAVY, Shining India on January 20th, 2018
Indian nuclear scientists haven’t had an easy time of it over the past decade. Not only has the scientific community been plagued by “suicides,” unexplained deaths, and sabotage, but those incidents have gone mostly underreported in the country—diluting public interest and leaving the cases quickly cast off by police.
Last month, two high-ranking engineers—KK Josh and Abhish Shivam—on India’s first nuclear-powered submarine were found on railway tracks by workers. They were pulled from the line before a train could crush them but were already dead. No marks were found on the bodies, so it was clear they hadn’t been hit by a moving train, and reports allege they were poisoned elsewhere before being placed on the tracks to make the deaths look either accidental or like a suicide. The media and the Ministry of Defence, however, described the incident as a routine accident and didn’t investigate any further.
This is the latest in a long list of suspicious deaths. When nuclear scientist Lokanathan Mahalingam’s body turned up in June of 2009, it was palmed off as a suicide and largely ignored by the Indian media. However, Pakistani outlets, perhaps unsurprisingly, given relations between the two countries, kept the story going, noting how quick authorities were to label the death a suicide considering no note was left.
Five years earlier, in the same forest where Mahalingam’s body was eventually discovered, an armed group with sophisticated weaponry allegedly tried to abduct an official from India’s Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC). He, however, managed to escape. Another NPC employee, Ravi Mule, had been murdered weeks before, with police failing to “make any headway” into his case and effectively leaving his family to investigate the crime. A couple of years later, in April of 2011, when the body of former scientist Uma Rao was found, investigators ruled the death as a suicide, but family members contested the verdict, saying there had been no signs that Rao was suicidal.
This seems to be a recurring theme with deaths in the community. Madhav Nalapat, one of the few journalists in India giving the cases any real attention, has been in close contact with the families of the recently deceased scientists left on the train tracks. “There was absolutely no kind of depression or any family problems that would lead to suicide,” he told me over the phone.
If the deaths of those in the community aren’t classed as suicide, they’re generally labelled as “unexplained.” A good example is the case of M Iyer, who was found with internal haemorrhaging to his skull—possibly the result of a “kinky experiment,” according to a police officer. After a preliminary look-in, the police couldn’t work out how Iyer had suffered internal injuries while not displaying any cuts or bruises, and investigations fizzled out.
This label is essentially an admission of defeat on the police force’s part. Once the “unexplained” rubber stamp has been approved, government bodies don’t tend to task the authorities with investigating further. This may be a necessity due to the stark lack of evidence available at the scene of the deaths—a feature that some suggest could indicate the work of professional killers—but if this is the case, why not bring in better-trained detectives to investigate the cases? A spate of deaths in the nuclear scientific community would create a media storm and highly publicised police investigation in other countries, so why not India?
This inertia has led to great public dissatisfaction with the Indian police. “[The police] say it’s an unsolved murder, that’s all. Why doesn’t it go higher? Perhaps to a specialist investigations unit?” Madhav asked. “These people were working on the submarine program, creating a reactor, and have either ‘committed suicide’ or been murdered. It’s astonishing that this hasn’t been seen as suspicious.”
Perhaps, I suggested, this series of deaths is just the latest chapter in a long campaign aiming to derail India’s nuclear and technological capabilities. Madhav agreed, “There is a clear pattern of this type of activity going on,” he said.
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INS Sindhurakshak (Photo via)
The explosions that sunk INS Sindhurakshak – a submarine docked in Mumbai – in August of this year could have been deliberate, according to unnamed intelligence sources. And some have alleged that the CIA was behind the sabotage of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Of course, the deaths have caused fear and tension among those currently working on India’s various nuclear projects. “[Whistleblowers] are getting scared of being involved in the nuclear industry in India,” Madhav relayed to me. Their “families are getting very nervous about this” and “many of them leave for foreign countries and get other jobs.”
There are parallels here with the numerous attacks on the Iranian nuclear scientist community. Five people associated with the country’s nuclear programme have been targeted in the same way: men on motorcycles sticking magnetic bombs on to their cars and detonating them as they drive off. However, the Iranian government are incredibly vocal in condemning these acts—blaming the US and Israel—and at least give the appearance that they are actively investigating.
The same cannot be said for the Indian government. “India is not making any noise about the whole thing,” Madhav explained. “People have just accepted the police version, [which describes these incidents] as normal kinds of death.”
If the deaths do, in fact, turn out to be premeditated murders, deciding who’s responsible is pure speculation at this point. Two authors have alleged that the US has dabbled in sabotaging the country’s technological efforts in the past; China is in a constant soft-power battle with India, and the volatile relationship with Pakistan makes the country a prime suspect. “It could be any of them,” Madhav said.
But the most pressing issue isn’t who might be behind the murders, but that the Indian government’s apathy is potentially putting their high-value staff at even greater risk. Currently, these scientists, who are crucial to the development of India’s nuclear programmes, whether for energy or security, have “absolutely no protection at all. Nothing, zero,” Madhav told me. “Which is amazing for people who are in a such a sensitive program.”
Posted by Dorab in Afghan -Taliban-India Axis, Bajrang Dal, Casteism in India-Alive & Thriving in Stealth Mode, CROSS BORDER KILLINGS BY INDIA, Gujarat Massacre By Narebdra Modi & Hindutva Terrorists RSS, Hindutva India Bigotry, India, India Global Exporter of Terrorism, India Hall of Shame, India in Pakistan's Nuclear Crosshair, INDIA'S DRDO DUDS, INDIA'S EXPORT- IT SCAMMER TO USA, INDIA'S HINDUISM, India's Nuclear Proliferation, Indian IT Coolies in US, Khalistan, Kulbhushan Spy, Makaar Dushman, Suppression of Women in Hindu India, The Hindutva Nazi Mind, VHP on January 8th, 2018
A disturbing and brutal video of Naveed Pathan murder could serve as evidence of the alleged Muslim genocide in India.
International social media is wrestling for truth in connection to the barbaric killing of Muslim bodybuilder Naveed Pathan, or as identified by India media and police, a gangster, rapist and murderer Rafiquddin Shaikh aka Guddya.
A disturbing CCTV footage, which leaked last Thursday, went viral in the past few days, with social media and state-run Indian media expressing diametrically opposite views on the gruesome murder of the victim, whose identity has been the subject of debate on the Internet.
In what could appear as an instance of the Indian media covering up the report of the brutal lynching of a Muslim man on Parola Road in Dhule district in the Hinduism-majority nation, international social media is grasping for any string of hope to reveal the truth about the barbaric video that shows 11 men hitting an unarmed Naveed Pathan with swords and sticks and continuing to hit his bloody body as the man lies unconscious.
Many Muslims in India – roughly 172 million people living in India identify themselves as adherents of Islam – woke up to the realization that a massive Muslim genocide may be underway in the nation populated by nearly 1.3 billion people, the majority of whom identify themselves as Hindu.
Something that may have been covered up by the Indian government for years became apparent the second the disturbing video of the barbaric murder of Naveed Pathan leaked on the Internet late last week. While the Indian police continue investigating who was the source of the leak, Muslims living in the nation are up in arms about the alleged religion-motivated murder and the apparent fact that the Indian media is trying to cover up the report to keep a lid on what has been labelled as a ‘genocide in India’.
The barbaric lynching of Naveed Pathan, or Rafiquddin as identified by the Indian media, comes just several weeks after local journalists and police allegedly turned a blind eye on another gruesome incident of public lynching of a Muslim teenager. Late last month, the media reported that 15-year-old Junaid was stabbed to death on a Mathura-bound train from New Delhi. A crowd of nearly 200 people – Hindus – pretended as if there was no murdered Muslim child in front of them, the media reported.
Social media erupted in anger in recent days, slamming the Indian media for allegedly spreading false propaganda to cover up the alleged killing of a Muslim man.
The unarmed victim, who on the video is seen lying in a river of his own blood after barbarically attacked by about a dozen of men equipped with swords and sticks, was identified by the Indian media and police as gangster Rafiquddin, who was murdered by an enemy gang in a gang-related attack.
But as the video started making rounds on the Internet, social media users were sceptical of the reports and accused the Indian media of trying to cover up what they called was a Muslim genocide in India. Many independent journalists identified the man as Naveed Pathan and described him as a law-abiding Muslim citizen who had been taking part in bodybuilding contests. They claim the Muslim man was murdered in a religion-motivated attack, not an inter-gang rivalry one.
The social media’s side of the story stands in stark contrast to the official Indian media reports, claiming that Rafiquddin was a criminal out on bail and had more than 30 cases of extortion, rape and murder against him. The Indian media downplayed the brutal lynching of the victim, who was killed in broad daylight in front of many witnesses and CCTV cameras, as gang rivalry.
The mysterious case of Naveed Pathan (Rafiquddin) remains unclosed, as Muslims living in India, who are concerned about their safety as religiously-motivated murders in the nation are reportedly on the rise, want an unbiased investigation into the barbaric killing of the alleged bodybuilder.
The disturbing video, which has been viewed by many social media users after its leak, shows that about 11 men pull the victim onto the street and strike him with swords and sticks 27 times. As Naveed Pathan (Rafiquddin), who was reportedly having tea in the nearby roadside stall, lies in his own river of blood dead, the attackers are seen hopping on motorcycles and scooters to flee the horrendous crime scene.
Indian police reportedly arrested one suspect in connection with the public lynching of the possibly wrongly identified Muslim bodybuilder. Reports also claim that police have identified another five suspects.
Zain Khan, a Dubai-based broadcast journalist, condemned the brutal attack and claimed that the Muslim man was targeted by Hindu extremists.
In #India today extremist Hindus brutally killed (Lynched) a Muslim Body builder Naveed Pathan aka Naveed Iqbal aka Pappu. #Naveedpathan
Many users have taken to social media to accuse the Indian government headed by PM Narendra Modi of ignoring and possibly covering up the increased number of religion-motivated incidents targeting Muslims across India.
I very strongly condemn the brutal killing of Naveed pathan in IND by hands of Hindu Taliban,for which Narindra Modi is directly responsible
Real face of so called #secular state #India. Brutally murdered a #Muslim Body Builder Naveed Pathan. Shame India. Violation of #HumanRights
While the identity of the brutally murdered victim still remains under wraps – with social media confident it was bodybuilder Naveed Pathan and the Indian media and police claiming it was gangster Rafiquddin – anti-Muslim sentiments are on the rise in the majority-Hindustan nation.
Opponents and critics of the Indian government claim that the current regime orders to keep media outlets silent about religious-motivated attacks targeting Muslims, while ordinary Indian people – as seen from the brutal lynching of the Muslim teenager last month – are apparently ready to turn a blind eye on such deplorable incidents and violation of human rights.
As the investigation into the murder of Naveed Pathan continues, Muslim people living in India fear that violence against Muslim community in the nation could become worse if the media, police and ordinary people keep their eyes closed on the disturbing reality.
This video may be inappropriate for some users. (GRAPHIC 18+)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc0Wjuh7kLM
Posted by Simon in Afghan -Taliban-India Axis, Bajrang Dal, Gujarat Massacre By Narebdra Modi & Hindutva Terrorists RSS, Hindutva India Bigotry, India, India Global Exporter of Terrorism, India Hall of Shame, India in Pakistan's Nuclear Crosshair, INDIA'S DRDO DUDS, INDIA'S EXPORT- IT SCAMMER TO USA, INDIA'S HINDUISM, India's Missile Technology Proliferation, India's Nuclear Proliferation, Indian Army, Indian IT Coolies in US, Indian Military Lies & False Propaganda, Khalistan, Makaar Dushman, Suppression of Women in Hindu India, The Hindutva Nazi Mind, VHP on March 18th, 2017
(Web Desk) – India has topped the list of most ignorant countries in a survey carried out by Ipsos MORI, which includes information from 27,250 interviews of people aged 16 to 64 carried out between September and November, the Independent reported on Saturday.
Ipsos MORI surveyed people from 40 countries, with between 500 and 1,000 people surveyed in each.
Multiple questions were posed before participants; including their country population, healthcare spending, and home ownership. The findings were then collated to create the index.
Wealth seemed to have less bearing on outcomes than one might expect. The USA, one of the richest has been ranked one of the most ignorant below many developed countries.
Here is the list of top 10 ignorant countries in the world:
India
China
Taiwan
South Africa
USA
Brazil
Thailand
Singapore
Turkey
Indonesia
Posted by admin in Afghan -Taliban-India Axis, AFGHANISTAN BASED RAW TRAINED TALIBAN ACTIONS, Afghanistan Hell, Afghanistan-Land of Backstabbers, CROSS BORDER KILLINGS BY INDIA, EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO INDIA, India Hall of Shame, India's Nuclear Proliferation, INDIA-AN EVIL NATION, INDIA-HO-- -- USE BUILT ON SAND AND COW DUNG, INDIA: THE EVIL HINDU EMPIRE, INDIAN AGENT NAWAZ SHARIF:FREE ARY, INDIAN ARMY CHIEF-TOKENISM TO APPEASE SIKH MINORITY, INDIAN GOVTS LIES EXPOSED, INDIAN SABRE RATTLING BITS THE DUST, INDIAN SCAMMERS AROUND THE GLOBE, INDIAN TERRORISM FROM CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS, Makaar Dushman, Politics, Recent News on October 29th, 2014
Gambling against Armageddon
By
Munir Akram, former Pakistan ambassador to the UN |
IN an opinion piece last year, Henry Kissinger observed that over the next couple of decades a nuclear war was likely to take place between India and Pakistan. The nuclear factor was in play in four major and one minor India-Pakistan crises: in 1987, 1990, 1998, 1999 and 2002.In 1987, when an Indian army chief launched the Brasstacks military exercises along Pakistan’s exposed desert borders, Pakistan responded by deploying its forces in the north where India was vulnerable. Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s agreement to a mutual stand-down no doubt also took into account the informal threat from Islamabad to bomb India’s nuclear reactors in case Pakistan was attacked. (After the crisis ended, the Pakistan-India agreement not to attack each other’s nuclear facilities was jointly formulated in one day.)In January 1990, when the anti-Indian insurgency erupted in Kashmir and India threatened Pakistan, a conflict was forestalled by US intervention. The US acted when it learnt that Pakistan had begun to arm its nuclear-capable aircraft.
The operation of mutual deterrence between India and Pakistan is being eroded.
During the night of 26-27 May 1998 — the night before Pakistan conducted its nuclear explosions in response to India’s tests — Pakistani radar detected unidentified aircraft flying towards its territory. Islamabad issued warnings of instant retaliation to India and relayed these to the US and Israel. This may have been a false alarm; but it illustrates the danger of accidental conflict in the absence of real-time communications.
During the 1999 Kargil war, the nuclear dimension was implicit, given that the crisis occurred a year after the India-Pakistan nuclear tests.During the 2002 general mobilisation by India and Pakistan, the director general of the Pakistan Armed Forces Special Plans Division enunciated its nuclear ‘doctrine’ in a news interview. The ‘doctrine’ envisaged that Pakistan would use nuclear weapons if: it was being militarily overwhelmed; its nuclear or strategic weapons or facilities were attacked; and it was subjected to an enemy blockade.The projection of this doctrine, including at a UN news conference by this writer in July 2002, sparked a fall in the Indian Stock Exchange, the evacuation of foreign personnel and embassy families from New Delhi and a demarche by Indian business leaders to prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and reportedly led to the Indian agreement for a mutual drawback of forces.The operation of mutual deterrence displayed in 2002, however, is being eroded by several developments.One, the conventional military balance is becoming progressively unfavourable to Pakistan. India is engaged in a major arms build-up. It is the world’s largest arms importer today. It is deploying advanced and offensive land, air and sea weapons systems. Pakistan’s conventional capabilities may not prove sufficient to deter or halt an Indian attack.Two, India has adopted the Cold Start doctrine envisaging a rapid strike against Pakistan. This would prevent Pakistan from mobilising its conventional defence and thus lower the threshold at which Pakistan may have to rely on nuclear deterrence.Three, Pakistan has had to deploy over 150,000 troops on the western border due to its involvement in the cross-border counterterrorism campaign in Afghanistan, reducing its conventional defence capacity against India.Four, the acquisition of foreign nuclear plants and fuel, made possible by the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation agreement, will enable India to enlarge its nuclear weapons stockpile significantly. To maintain nuclear balance, Pakistan has accelerated production of fissile materials. Both nuclear arsenals are now large and growing.Five, given its growing conventional disadvantage, and India’s pre-emptive war fighting doctrine, Pakistan has been obliged to deploy a larger number of nuclear-capable missiles, including so-called ‘theatre’ or tactical nuclear-capable missiles. The nuclear ‘threshold’ is now much lower.Six, the Kashmir dispute — once described by former US president Bill Clinton as a nuclear flashpoint — continues to fester. Another insurgency is likely to erupt, certainly if the Bharatiya Janata Party government goes ahead with its platform promise to abrogate Article 370 of the Indian constitution (which accords special status to Jammu & Kashmir). A renewed Kashmiri insurgency will evoke Indian accusations against Pakistan and unleash another Indo-Pakistan crisis.Seven, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has obviously decided to adopt an aggressive posture towards Pakistan, no doubt to appeal to his hard-line Hindu constituency. The recent ceasefire violations along the Line of Control are an ominous indication of such belligerency.Eight, India is reportedly involved in supporting the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Baloch Liberation Army to destabilise Pakistan internally.Nine, India has terminated the ‘composite dialogue’ with Pakistan. Its precondition for talks — an “absence of violence” — is impossible for Pakistan to meet.Ten, the US and other major powers evince little interest in addressing the combustible mix of live disputes, terrorist threats, conventional arms imbalance and nuclear weapons in South Asia.During the parallel dialogue initiated by the US with Pakistan and India following their 1998 nuclear explosions, Pakistan proposed a ‘strategic restraint regime’ with India which would include mechanisms to resolve disputes, including Kashmir; preserve a conventional arms balance and promote mutual nuclear and missile restraint.India rejected the concept of a mutual restraint regime.The US at first agreed to consider Pakistan’s proposal. However, as their talks with India transitioned from restricting India’s nuclear programme to building a “strategic partnership” (against China), the Americans de-hyphenated policy towards Pakistan and India, opened the doors to building India’s conventional and nuclear capabilities and disavowed any interest in the Kashmir dispute. Currently, Indian belligerence is bolstered by US pressure on Pakistan to halt fissile material production and reverse the deployment of theatre nuclear-capable missiles.If a South Asian Armageddon is to be prevented, it is essential to build a structure of stable deterrence between India and Pakistan and find ways to deal with Kashmir and other outstanding disputes. Reviving consideration of a strategic restraint regime would be a good place to start.The writer is a former Pakistan ambassador to the UN.
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