LoC ceasefire announcement with India must not derail Pakistan’s focus on Indian-occupied Kashmir

Pakistan must not make any compromise on its principal stance over IoK following the LoC ceasefire agreement with India, nor should it let its focus derailed over the issue, as the development could well be a ploy by India to revive its international image by deviating the world’s attentions from the on-ground realities.

The views were expressed in the 14th meeting of IPS-Working Group on Kashmir (IPS-WGK), which was held on March 10, 2021. The main speaker of the discussion was Dr Saif ur Rehman Malik (Tamgha-i-Imtiaz), director, India Study Centre, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI). The session was chaired by Chairman IPS Khalid Rahman, moderated by General Secretary IPS-WGK Farzana Yaqoob and participated by Ambassador (r) Ishtiaq Hussain Andrabi, Brig (r) Said Nazir Mohmand, International Law Expert Advocate Nasir Qadri from Legal Forum for Oppressed Voices of Kashmir (LFOVK), and Amanullah Khan, former president, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), among others.

Talking about the recent ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India, Malik was of the view that the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMO)’s meeting is a primitive measure taken by India to satisfy the new administration in America. He said that Joe Biden and his administration lay a lot of importance to human rights issues and have been very vocal about it during their election campaign. He said that this dis-engagement from the Indian side could well be to revive the image of India in front of new Biden administration after the incidents like the farmers’ protests, the citizenship amendment bill and constant human right violations in IoK, all of which have unveiled the real face of the increasingly polarized state of India.

Sharing his views on the DGMO talks he said that India wants to use this development for damage control and would try to deceive Pakistan using it. He further said that the recent talk will benefit India more than Pakistan and urged that Islamabad should not give the opportunity to India to falsely Illustrate itself as a peace-loving country before the world.

Talking about Pakistan’s position, Malik’s said that Pakistan should remain consistent with its stance on Kashmir which the nation assumed after the abrogation of article 375. He said that without any committed agreement or guarantee from a third country, Pakistan doesn’t need to initiate or get involved in any such talks. He also feared that such a move will hurt the Kashmir cause and could also be a new start of a false flag operation by India.

Andrabi said that India is on the back foot and desperate to rebuild its image in the international arena and Pakistan has to be cautious with these developments and not provide India with any opportunities to play with.

Khalid Rahman endorsed Malik’s views stating that every time there is an opportunity, we end up losing it in return for a smaller gain. Since August 5, 2019, the Kashmir cause has garnered unprecedented international attention but unfortunately India is playing its card cleverly to make the issue bilateral again whereas absence of any concrete measures from Pakistan continue to cost the country dearly.