China-Pak close ranks
It comes as no surprise that the growing bonhomie between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and US President Donald Trump seems to have rattled all-weather allies Pakistan and China. In a statement released by the Chinese media, our neighbouring country, expressing serious concern over India's future stated that "If India becomes a US ally, results may prove to be catastrophic."
Leaving unanswered what it parallels to the idea of a catastrophe. Possibly, the perils persisting in Tibet propagated actively by the Chinese administration escapes this definition, yet, a possible collaboration between a superpower, and a potential power-house in battling the worst fraught evil of today's time-global terrorism- could amount to concerning devastation. At the same time, the Chinese have also lent support to the idea of fighting global terrorism which was actively spoken of by both Modi and Trump, while roping in Pakistan, stating that the country was no exception to the idea. The country which has a known history of launching the most devastating, repeated acts of violence on civilians and unarmoured soldiers across its borders, of course is holding up a fight against terrorism.
A fight against terrorism, or with terrorism; seems like a case of misplaced prepositions. China of course has reasons to feel insecure, given its long standing volatile equation with USA, which it feels is cozying up to India to gain some kind of comfort within the sub-continent. Without naming China, Trump hit out at the country's failure to stand up to Pongyang, where India had actually made some attempt towards making sanctions against this pathetically authoritarian regime. By selling Guardian Drones to India, USA will further attempt to keep a check on Chinese activity, which has been rattling the North American nation, specifically in the case of the South-China sea dispute.
China seems to argue that the ultimate motive of US is to gain geo-political leverage, which maybe a possibility. But a win-win situation for both India and the USA would actually be reason enough for both China and Pakistan to spend at least some harrowing nights. All in all, the Indo-US proximity doesn't seem to be good news for the Chinese, and neither for their dear friends Pakistan. Yet again by bringing up the issue of Kashmir, Pakistan has attempted to highlight how terrorism isn't restricted to its borders. While the situation of Kashmir has been worrying since the time of independence, and many would argue that it lends validation to state sponsored atrocities, yet, Kashmir can never be the answer to Pakistan's terrorism. If anything, it should be the reason for Pakistan to check the violence that it keeps penetrating through its fragile lands, which are ruptured internally enough for it to afford further bloodshed of those who it actually calls 'it's own'.
Even more, while pushing for state sponsored terrorism in Kashmir, how can Pakistan possibly forget the condition of Balochistan, where citizens are rallying to be freed from a state of vengeance. Balochistan has been tagged as the killing field of Pakistan, for cynics that wouldn't be much different from India's Kashmir. Does a thief have the right to call another the same? Pakistan pointing to others on terrorism has become a global, practical joke- not that India is a glorified saint, yet it is far less laughable than its neighbour, who never seems to learn from its own mistake.
Pakistan is like the spoilt child who never got over the candy that was taken away from it in fifth grade. While we berate Pakistan, and bask in some temporary glory over an embrace between Trump and Modi, it is imperative to remember that the world of political play is far less kind than the friendship we preserved in school- where people shared candies without an ulterior motive.USA, one mustn't forget is led by an astute businessman, who has made a fortune by what many would call fooling and hoaxing innocent citizens. The only relief here is that our Prime Minister is not an innocent citizen, if not the heart, his head is in the right place.
While Trump provided some relief in speaking out against Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin, it remained incongruent on the issues of H1B visas, and also raised concerns over prevailing trade imbalances. Ironically, President Trump while physically embracing PM Modi, did not openly embrace his idea of visiting India in the near future. Yet, surely, despite the uncertainty, a hug in the Rose Garden would provide cheer to our diplomatic circles. But, for how long?
