Apart from the current uneasy relations between Pakistan and the US, as aconsequence of the recent closure of military assistance to Pakistan byasking it to do more on countering Afghanistan related terrorism, there aredeeper issues at play in the US to harm Pakistan’s territorial integrity.
India in this regard seems to be closely working with the successive USgovernments and its congressmen to influence them in its favour on theissues where it wants to damage Pakistan.
In fact, in this context, India is struggling to exploit the prevailinggeopolitical environment. Being a close defence partner of the US, in thepost cold war and post 9/11 environment, where it feels that by exploitingUS interests linked with India, it can gain US support in pursuing its antiPakistan agenda as well. In this game India seems to be succeeding ingetting the support of some US congressmen, although not of the USgovernment as yet.
Recently, two, anti Pakistan, US Congressmen namely Dana Rohrabacher andBrad Sherman spoke against Pakistan during a recent meeting of the US Houseof Representatives. Brad Sherman alleged about HR violations/disappearances in Sindh, while Dana Rohrabacher alleged that like formerEast Pakistan, where Pakistan Army had committed atrocities and resultantlyit had emerged as Bangladesh, the same is being repeated in Karachi withMuhajir’s community. He also asked for the support of the US to theBalochis and Sindhis who are alleged to be persecuted mainly by thePakistan Armed Forces and ISI. He also criticized that the control of theGovernment is with the Punjabis and Pashtuns. Earlier also, in February2012, Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher had introduced a resolutionin the congress, calling for an independent state for the Balochi people.The resolution said “the people of Balochistan that are “currently dividedbetween Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, have the right toself-determination and to their own sovereign country and they should beafforded the opportunity to choose their own status among the community ofnations”.
These above mentioned words of the congressmen appear to be Indian fed asthese propaganda themes were extensively aired by India in 1971 beforeattacking East Pakistan.
In the first year of Modi’s Government (2014), Indian administration hadannounced its decision to provide shelter to the secessionist Balochleaders. Indian CNN-News18 had quoted Indian official sources as sayingthat India was all set to grant political asylum to the Baloch leaders whowere fighting for separation from Pakistan. It was stated that India wantedthe Baloch leaders to formally apply for asylum and that this would begranted in a matter of a few weeks.
Modi’s this move is meant to create misperceptions in the minds of the USand other world leaders that the majority of the Baloch people wanted toseparate from Pakistan. Although such steps by India amount to interferingin Pakistan’s internal matters, but Modi would pursue this policy to harmPakistan. However, in this context, Modi is grossly misguided if he thinksthat India under his premiership can really repeat the situation of thethen East Pakistan, in Balochistan and Sindh.
However, in this context, it was encouraging to note that the Obamaadministration had flatly refused to go along with Prime Minister NarendraModi’s stand on Balochistan. The state department’s spokesperson, JohnKirby, had said the US “respects the unity and territorial integrity ofPakistan and we do not support independence for Balochistan”. But in a bidto establish India’s hegemony in South Asia by harming Pakistan, Modiadministration will continue to negatively influence the US congressmen onBalochistan by feeding them motivated intelligence about the province toultimately pressure the US Government to support India’s stance onBalochistan. In this context, India appears to be building considerableinfluence over some of the important US congressmen.
In the third week of August 2017, Congressman Brad Sherman had sent aletter to Alice G. Wells, the Acting Assistant Secretary for South andCentral Asian Affairs and David Hale, the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistanexpressing strong concerns about human rights in Sindh. In this Sherman wasjoined by Representatives Barbara Comstoc, Trent Franks, Carolyn Malone,Eleanor Holmes Norton, Dana Rohrabacher, and Adam Schiff. The letter raisedconcerns about enforced disappearances, religious extremist attacks, andforced conversions. And as mentioned earlier, very recently above mentionedtwo congressmen have again spoken against Pakistan during a recent meetingof the US House of Representatives.
In the above context, the US congressmen talking about separation ofBalochistan and HR violation in Sindh province and India’s involvement inwrongly influencing the US Government, and the US congressmen onBalochistan are dangerous developments which must be countered. In thiscontext, Pakistan should focus on befriending US congressmen throughconcerted diplomacy and intense lobbying, that is legally allowed in theUS. In this regard, Indian efforts to mislead the US and it sponsoringsterrorism in Balochistan should also be exposed.
By: Colonel (R) Hanif