By Asif Mahmood
On one side we have India, whose terrorists were involved in the Lahore blast, all the details have been explained by the Interior Minister, and on the other side we are having Afghanistan, where eight of our citizens were martyred by direct firing in Chaman.
This situation is alarming and sanity demands that every sagacious soul must look deep into the mounting crisis. I wonder if our ruling elite can rise above the political fault line.
India is our enemy. An open secret. There is no room for complacency in this regard. Therefore, no one should be surprised by the details given by the Minister of Interior.
Whether through terrorism or direct aggression, India will strike when and where it gets the chance. This is more than evident. The history speaks volumes of the fact mentioned above.
The question is not only about the ugly designs of India ; it is also about the mechanism of reciprocation we are having.
Not denying is the fact that from Nachi Geeta to Kulbhushan and from Kulbhushan to Abhay Nandan, in whatever form India has struck, we have responded and thwarted it. With this comes a crunch question to fore: where is our ‘diplomatic offensive’?
We handed over Nachi Geeta and Abhay Nandan to Indiaa despite the fact that both of them were guilty of aggression and waging war against Pakistan.
In the case of Kulbhushan, we apprehended the Indian terrorist network, but we could not place India in the dock of International community.
Is it a shortcoming in our foreign policy or something else ? Whatever it is, it needs serious consideration.
Incidents happened in India too. Without any investigation into the matter , India starts blaming Pakistan.
But when an incident happens in Pakistan, even though we have arrested the Indian citizens involved in the act of terror we can’t push India on the back foot in the global pitch.
This is not a trivial matter. This is a serious matter and should be viewed in its full significance.
The issue of Afghanistan also needs attention. We celebrated the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan and showed goodwill for the new government at all levels, but what is the reason that such warmth is not being reciprocated from the other side?
Pakistan is trying to convince the whole world to recognize the new government of Afghanistan and there are attacks on Pakistan from Afghanistan. This attitude is bound to stir many crunch questions.
Is the whole burden of brotherhood to be borne unilaterally by Pakistan or friendly countries also have some responsibility to share?
Should it be understood that there are some non-state actors in Afghanistan over whom the Afghan government has no control? Or should it be understood that these non-state actors have some level of support from the government there?
If this is not the case and the Afghan government is committed to its policy that its territory will not be used against any other country, then this policy should be put into practice.
Brotherhood is not a one-sided love story. It should not be. According to the data released by the Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the volume of bilateral trade has decreased from two and a half billion dollars to one billion dollars.
Every day, around 100 trucks from Pakistan enter Afghanistan from Chaman border alone. Remember that Afghanistan is a landlocked country.
Now, if Pakistan has to pick up the dead bodies of innocent the trade corridor cannot remain open.
Sanity and responsibility should prevail in Kabul. Sagacity and well wishes should be reciprocated.
