LONDON – UK think-tank Royal Unites Services Institute (RUSI) has said thatPakistan’s military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa realises that the wayto peace and prosperity in Pakistan is through military cooperation withIndia but New Delhi is not reciprocating approaches made by Pakistan’ssenior military officers.
The RUSI’s expert on South Asia and Middle East Kamal Alam has written in areport published by the RUSI that it was a “historic first” that GeneralQamar Javed Bajwa invited Sanjay Vishwasrao, the Indian military attaché,and his team to the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad this year andthen General Bajwa said two weeks later that the Pakistan military wantedpeace and dialogue with India.
The report said that the two countries will also take part in jointmilitary drills in Russia in September, with Chinese participation, whichshows that there is a change in attitude since Bajwa became COAS inNovember 2016. It says, “These initiatives come against a background ofalmost weekly exchanges of fire along the Line of Control in Kashmir.”
Approaches by Pakistani military have been welcomed by some in India,because they are seen to be able to deliver on peace, said the report whileadding that senior Pakistani officer Lieutenant General Aamir Riaz headedthe first-ever high-level contact group with India as Director-GeneralMilitary Operations. It mentioned Major General Ahmed Hayat’s so-calledIndia Plan authored in 2013, which tried to ascertain how and when Pakistanshould approach India.
General Hayat had concluded that the Pakistani military would approachIndia once Pakistan’s own defence diplomacy was strengthened and not underAmerican threats or pressure. The report said: “A siege mentality in thePakistani General Headquarters in Rawalpindi has meant that there has beenpractically no major defence diplomacy between the arch-rivals. However,since the army launched anti-terror operations Zarb-e-Azb in 2014 andRadd-ul-Fassad in 2017, Pakistan has seen a turnaround in its security. Thegenerals also feel that this strengthens their bargaining power with the USafter President Donald Trump accused the Pakistanis of ‘lies and deceit,thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists wehunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!’ Pakistan has also embracedRussia and strengthened ties with Turkey and China.
The report said that despite continued tensions and fire-fights in Kashmirat their fiercest for a decade, Pakistan’s generals want to talk and feelthe ball is in India’s court.
Speaking to this correspondent about his report, Kamal Alam, the RUSIPakistan Defence Fellow, who liaises with the RUSI International SecurityTeam, said that Pakistan wants stability with India and not “constant warm”.
He added: “The economic growth of CPEC has to welcome all regionalcountries including India. This is also the view of COAS and otherGenerals. But India seems hesitant and opposed to dialogue. How long canIndia be hostile when Pakistan Army is stretching its hand out to them?”