Defending security amid challenges
Defending security amid challenges
Siddiq Baluch
Editor's Blog

QUETTA: As expected, President Trump had come out with an aggressive plan to encircle Pakistan by dragging India into the Afghan civil war and playing a role or rescuing the Americans from Afghanistan in a safer way.

QUETTA: As expected, President Trump had come out with an aggressive plan to encircle Pakistan by dragging India into the Afghan civil war and playing a role or rescuing the Americans from Afghanistan in a safer way.

For this specific reason the President of United States had invited India to play a military role in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan by making more significant investment. In any way, it is a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan and its security.

He blamed Pakistan for cross border terrorism sheltering the terrorists, mainly Taliban groups, in launching attacks inside Afghanistan. He claimed safe havens for the Taliban fighters and other splinter groups operating inside Afghanistan. He announced that he would be sending more troops and equipment to Afghanistan. He said he will not set a deadline for US troops’ pullout, nor set a deadline for winning the war. He vowed to fight an infinite war in Afghanistan. He asked the NATO allies to send more troops and provide more funds to fight the Taliban or making Afghanistan a permanent US colony.

A day earlier, a Spokesman of the armed forces told newsmen that there is no terrorist group operating in an organized manner inside Pakistan. There is no ammunition dump, no training camps or terrorist camps in any part of Pakistan. They are all attacked and destroyed in army actions long ago, the ISPR DG told newsmen emphatically.

Pakistan had rightly rejected all the allegations saying that Pakistan is no more interested in getting US financial or military aid in future. Pakistan deplored the attitude of the US President ignoring the sacrifices offered by the Pakistani people and its defence forces in fighting terror inside Pakistan. Pakistan is a victim of world terrorism and lost billions of dollars in economic terms and more than 68,000 people lost their life. Several thousand security personnel also lost their life while fighting terrorists.

Pakistan held the hostile security agencies of the enemy responsible for training and funding terrorism inside Pakistan and the security forces are resisting the terrorists’ attacks off and on with a commitment to make Pakistan a safer place to live.

In any case, the US policy announcement in regard to Pakistan had radically changed the security scenario in the entire region. In a way, President Trump tried to form a regional coalition against Pakistan by inducting India in the Afghan civil war. What will be the role of Indians and its security forces in the Afghan civil war? It is not clear yet.

Nor there was a significant reaction from the relevant security quarters of Indian establishment on Trump’s announcement of the so-called Afghan policy. It is highly unlikely that India is committing its troops in the Afghan civil war

The limited number of US troops for Afghanistan indicating the probable mindset that the US military will concentrate on air power and will avoid a ground war against the Taliban, ISIL militants and other splinter groups. Most of the fighting will be done by the Afghan forces on the ground while the US forces will continue to be on the sideline as usual.

They adopted the same tactics to this date and still they came under attack from Taliban and other militant groups in recent weeks.

Previous Pakistani Governments miserably failed to formulate a rational foreign policy cementing its relations first with the immediate neighbours and later on targeting the remote regions. It is unfortunate that our relations with India and Afghanistan remained unfriendly rather hostile for a variety of reason while relations with Iran remained cool, if not unfriendly, to a great extent. Thus the role of Iran will possibly be unpredictable in this crisis. In a conflict with Afghanistan and India at the same time, it will not be easy for Iran to support Pakistan both militarily and diplomatically.

The attitude of Iran will continue to be unpredictable in case of a serious crisis. Iran may give priority to its security interests first before sharing Pakistan’s concerns

Thus the legitimate Baloch concerns will definitely mount and touch its height when the security and integrity of Pakistan will come into question. The legitimate Baloch interests are inseparably linked with Pakistan and its national security. Pakistani Balochistan, the biggest province of Pakistan, will definitely be a sandwich between Iran and Afghanistan while Pakistan is facing the Indian onslaught on all fronts during the present crisis.

Thus the stakes of Baloch people are much higher than any other ethnic or national group in Pakistan precisely facing serious threat to their survival even as a Province of Pakistan. There is hardly any match between the legitimate interests of the Balochs in Pakistan with any other nationality or a national group within Pakistan.

Let us hope that there is no outbreak of hostilities in the region and the Government of Pakistan will make serious efforts to retain peace and security in the region and at all cost. The Pakistani politicians should demonstrate maturity and give preference to national security first and later on settle their scores with their rivals.

We strongly urge the divergent political forces to give national unity and security the top priority in their political agenda and make efforts to resist the isolation of Pakistan by breaking the complicated ring thrown by the US President on the cover of Afghanistan civil war. Seasoned Baloch leaders played their historic role in framing 1973 Constitution and succeeded in framing the Constitution merely because Pakistan was facing a serious threat to its existence following the 1971 break-up.

The Balochs were facing the serious threat of further break up of their Baloch Mainland as per designs or Iran and Afghanistan, the two historic neighbours of the Baloch people. The threat to security of Pakistan was very serious in the months of crisis following the break up and Balochs were united and firm to play their role in saving Pakistan from any disaster, political and administrative anarchy in post Bangladesh war. Balochs voluntarily surrendered their constitutional rights of regional and political autonomy in the interest of unity and integrity of Pakistan in early 1970s.

Now the marginalized Balochs have no role to play with the exception to support the policies of the State of Pakistan and its institutions in defending the country from any disaster. The broad masses from all parts of the country should extend unqualified support to such efforts aimed at peace, security and unity of Pakistan.