{"id":3309,"date":"2018-01-08T11:06:43","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T05:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/?p=3309"},"modified":"2018-01-08T11:09:13","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T05:39:13","slug":"peace-in-south-asia-new-should-not-in-american-trap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/editors-take\/peace-in-south-asia-new-should-not-in-american-trap\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace in South Asia- New Delhi Should Not in American Trap"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/fb:like>

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Punchline <\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Peace in South-Asia <\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

By<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Z.G. Muhammad<\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For quite some time, there have been extensive debates about the peace and stability in South-Asia. Many have been seeing it in danger – a nuclear flashpoint- and a threat to world peace. \u00a0These speculations have become louder after President Donald Trump in his Tweet on the eve of New Year \u2018chastised Pakistan for receiving 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years from his country and in return giving nothing but lies and deceit.\u2019<\/span><\/h4>\n

The language used in the Tweet was pedestrian and humiliatingly bullish. It did not stop at the Tweet only but was followed by the suspension of the entire two billion security assistance to Pakistan. Nonetheless, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert clarified the cut-off is not permanent and only affects military assistance. Admitting Pakistan has been \u2018helpful\u2019 she left scope for a dialogue between the two countries. Of course, she put a caveat on it; Pakistan stopping the terrorist groups inimical to American interest in Afghanistan from operating its soil. It also placed Pakistan on a special watch list\u00a0\u00a0 “for severe violations of religious freedom\u201d along with\u00a0\u00a0 Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.<\/span><\/h4>\n

The New Year Tweet of Donald Trump followed by the suspension of security assistance has stirred a lot of resentment and anger in public in Pakistan. It equally has caused a spate of statements from the political leadership and other important institution of the country. The tone and tenor of these statements suggest, that the country feels deeply concerned about yet another deep dip in its relations with a country, it believes has been its oldest ally and friend.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Since Pakistan in mid-fifties entered into an alliance with America there have been more of troughs and less of crests in the relations between the two countries. But, despite more dips in their relations, the two countries sailed across through the cold war period without any complaints against each other.\u00a0 As rightly pointed out by Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli in her book, \u2018India-Pakistan and United States, \u2018the alliance gave Pakistan a measure of protection against Soviet threats.\u2019 It supported the right to self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the UN Security Council. Moreover, when Moscow continuously used the veto against the resolution of Kashmir, Washington tried to resolve the dispute outside the United Nations. \u2018From the fifties, every US president offered to mediate.\u00a0 John F Kennedy, who was friendly to India, first offered to direct meditation resolve to the Kashmir problem. Then in a note to Nehru and Ayub Khan, he suggested Mr. Eugene Black as mediator.\u2019 Notwithstanding, priorities of Washington in the region\u00a0\u00a0 after the India and China conflict\u00a0 undergoing a paradigm shift, it prevented the two countries from fighting each other- despite an opinion in a powerful section\u00a0 in Pakistan that \u201cit should rush its troops into Kashmir.\u201d Instead, Washington nudged them for a dialogue on Kashmir resulting in six rounds of Bhutto- Swaran Singh talks. It even proposed a division of the state, with a proviso for allowing a corridor to India through Kashmir Valley for carrying military supplies to Ladakh.\u00a0 To counter Soviet influence in the region China played an important role as Pakistan\u2019s friend and supporter. \u201cIn 1971, India Signed a Treaty of Friendship with the Soviet Union that proved useful during that year\u2019s Indo-Pak War and subsequent creation of Bangladesh.\u201d Writes Shirin Indian born American scholar and member of Council on Foreign Relations. Instead of supporting its allay America at this critical juncture chose to distance itself from the country.<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u2018In the 1980s, when the clash of American and Soviet interests erupted in Afghanistan, Washington again enlisted the support of Pakistan in the anti-Soviet campaign. Pakistan leadership, in fact, jumped whole-hog into it, to the terrifying disadvantage of their country. In the words of an acclaimed Pakistani commentator, \u201cIt brought the country a witches\u2019 brew of problems: induction of Islamic militancy, the proliferation of weapons\u201d, and scores of major spiraling problems at the cost of country\u2019s stability. The defeat of Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the sudden disappearance of America from the scene leaving behind a plethora of problems for Pakistan did not end the Afghan crisis. In fact, its fallout was deadlier for Pakistan in as much as, there was mushrooming of terrorist organizations in the country. After the 9\/11, terrorist attack on twin towers Pakistan not learning from the past once again got involved in the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan. In her book, \u2018Pakistan Beyond the Crisis\u2019, a journalist turned diplomat Dr. Maleeha \u00a0Lodhi \u00a0rightly writes, \u201cThe twin and the connected crisis of security and solvency that Pakistan is struggling with today are in part fallout of the protracted conflict in Afghanistan.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n

Notwithstanding, the chequered history of relations between the two countries and Washington having used its aid to the Islamabad in the past also many for checkmating it, the New Year Tweet seems to have put\u00a0 Pakistan government and the feuding leadership of the country on toes. On Saturday, Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement stated that \u2018the country was determined to continue to do all it takes to secure the lives of citizens and broader stability in the region\u2019. The media reports suggest that there are strong apprehensions in the country about Afghanistan, India, and America joining hands to harm the interests of Pakistan that could destabilize and endanger the security of the region. Some commentators, are seeing the emergence of a new alliance between Moscow, Beijing, and Islamabad for skirting the designs of Washington in the region. \u00a0Because of its geo-strategic importance calling Pakistan of \u201cvital importance to the region\u201d, an American scholar and former Ambassador of Pakistan Prof. Akbar S Ahmed \u00a0in an interview told CNN, \u201cIt is prudent and wise for diplomats in America \u00a0not to put Pakistan into the arms of other regional powers willing to take it \u00a0on board.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n

Some important analyst and experts on the US-Pakistan relations do not view President Trumps New Year Tweet as seriously as people in Pakistan. Their belief is that his Tweets are mostly made on the spur of the moment and very often impulsive and later on reconciled. To quote from Andrew Levine\u2019s article \u2018In Search Of Trump\u2019s Ideology\u2019, published on Jan 5, in CounterPunch, \u201cIndeed, Trump has no settled political convictions.\u00a0 How could he?\u00a0 If his tweets are any indication, he cannot even hold a thought for more than a day or two.\u00a0 He just goes with whatever is on his mind.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n

Whether one should dismiss Trump\u2019s Tweet as one made on the spur of the moment or as one that can be of far greater consequences to the safety and security of the South-Asia, important players of the region should not fall in the trap. India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are important players in the region. To ensure peace in the region and not to allow it go the Middle East way, instead of scoring points at each other and engaging in games of showdowns they should resolve all their Disputes through peaceful negotiations- with China, Russia, and Iran on board.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Published in Greater Kashmir on 8-1-2o18<\/span><\/h4>\n

mail your views and comments at zahidgm@gmail.com<\/p>\n

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\nPunchline
\nPeace in South-Asia
\nBy
\nZ.G. Muhammad
\n 
\nFor quite some time, there have been extensive debates about the peace and stability in South-Asia. Many have been seeing it in danger – a nuclear flashpoint- and a threat to world peace. \u00a0These speculations have become louder after President Donald Trump in his Tweet on the eve of New Year \u2018chastised Pakistan for receiving 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years from his country and in return giving nothing but lies and deceit.\u2019
\nThe language used in the Tweet was pedestrian and humiliatingly bullish. It did not stop at the Tweet only but was followed by the suspension of the entire two billion security assistance to Pakistan. Nonetheless, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert clarified the cut-off is not permanent and only affects military assistance. Admitting Pakistan has been \u2018helpful\u2019 she left scope for a dialogue between the two countries. Of course, she …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[305,301,306,247],"class_list":["post-3309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editors-take","tag-akbar-s-ahmed","tag-donal-trump-and-kashmir","tag-maleeh-lodhi","tag-z-g-muahmmad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3309"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3312,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3309\/revisions\/3312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}