Critically analyse Pakistan’s policy towards terrorists operating from its soil and the effect of this policy on India’s internal security and also on its relationship with India. (200 Words)
Pakistan is usually considered as the first hostile nation to the independent India, which has been led to a continuous conflict with both countries, leaving aside short intervals of peacetime.
There have been several incidents of Pakistan’s lenient initiatives towards countering terrorism against India, which have made India apprehensive regarding continuation of normal bilateral relations since long.
Not handing the 26/11 convicts to India (and releasing them), not reining in ISI and Pakistan army to make them observe ceasefire on LoC, along with harbouring many other militants, shows Pakistan’s weak policy on counter terrorism, which has often earned it the ire of international community.
Such loose efforts have always kept the Indian security agencies and the armed forces on tenterhooks, to be prepared for any kind of hostile behaviour from the neighbour nation.
India has increased the presence of armed forces on the north and western border, and several secret agencies are always on work, to observe any potential threat to India’s security.
Such lacklustre actions have not only affected India, but also Pakistan itself, seeing the recent attacks on schools and mosques, whenever the Pak govt tried anything to counter terrorism.
This is seen as a dual policy of Pak against terrorism, where the jihadists are said to be countered, seeing them as enemies of the state, but the govt agencies operating India are handled leniently.
Such incidents have affected the bilateral trade relations between both the countries up to about 20%, which was seen as the last initiative by both countries to be taken as a point from where friendly relations can begin.
Also, an environment of mistrust has been cast upon the talks, which have been discontinued until Pak takes some concrete steps against regional and international terrorism elements, brewing in its soils.
It is necessary for Pakistan to take some decisive steps against terrorists to improve its international and regional image, so as to give its own and the world citizens, a better future
to live in.
“The terrorist violence in Pakistan can be traced to the tight U.S. security embrace of the Cold War days, which gave birth to several “mujahedeen” groups that have turned into Frankenstein monsters post-9/11.” Elaborate. (200 Words)
During Cold war era, US started funding and supporting various local terrorist
organisation to contain Russian borders. US kept on funding and getting intelligence about Russian progress around the borders. During the Cold war era, US continuously kept on denying that anything called Terrorism exist in the world under the President Harry Truman.
This led the rise of various Mujahedeen means Guerrilla fighters against non-believer and non-Islamic forces. Slowly, with weakening power of Soviet and later on its disintegration in 1991, they left US without motivation to continue funding to militant groups covertly. Hence it stopped and alienated itself, this harmed US in two ways.
- With funding almost stopped, these militant groups relied on extortion, drugs trafficking, human trafficking, poaching, black money transactions, killing UN peacekeeping forces and NATO to acquire arms and instruments. Hence US and militant groups came on opposite side to each other as US with NATO was pseudo international police against all these illegal activities.
- As sole basis of Mujahedeen forces are “Sacred war against non-Islamic forces” again this led to confrontation with US as US was exploring for oil and gas in Arab region and their growing presence led to rising confrontation.
But least was US aware that, such encouragement to Militant outfits in past and now labelling and attacking as terrorist organisation will cost her hugely on September 2001. US failed to contain terrorism for over 2 decades, its misadventures in Iraq; Iran has gained more unpopularity among Islamic countries.
With rising economic and military power of China, and weakening European Union, US is fearing that “War on Terrorism” will be only her fight which once she used to finance covertly.