Falak Naz
‘A spoiler can’t be a peacemaker, said Pakistan’s National Security Advisor, Moeed Yusuf. The NSA spoke at a press conference in Islamabad following the signing of a Protocol on the Establishment of a Joint Security Commission by Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
The Hindustan Times reports that regional countries such as China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan have been invited to the meeting on the Afghanistan issue, which is set to take place on November 10 in New Delhi.
But the NSA Moeed Yusuf has categorically said that he would not attend an upcoming meeting hosted by India. He said, “I will not go, a spoiler can’t be a peacemaker”.
NSA’s statement holds true as far as India’s intentions for peace in the region are concerned. The conservative government of Narendra Modi in India has started a Machiavellian strategy to disturb the regional power balance. Modi is obsessed with transforming India into a regional hegemon, a goal shared by his political gurus and ideologues.
Modi needed a man with offensive proclivities to help him complete his task. As a result, he chose Ajit Doval as National Security Advisor. He is the main driver behind India’s aggressive and offensive stance during the previous few years, especially toward Pakistan.
Doval remarked in February 2014, while launching his devious scheme against Pakistan, “So how to tackle Pakistan? You know, we engage the enemy in three modes. One is a defensive mode. That is, you see what the chokidars and chaprasis do, i.e. to prevent somebody from coming in. One is defensive-offensive.
To defend ourselves, we go to the place from where the offense is coming. We are now in defensive mode. The last mode is called offensive mode. When we come in defensive-offense, we start working on the vulnerabilities of Pakistan. It can be economic, it can be internal, it can be political; it can be international isolation, defeating their policies in Afghanistan, making it difficult for them to manage internal political lands security balance. It can be anything. “I am not going into details.
But you need to change the engagement from the defensive mode because in the defensive mode you throw 100 stones on me, I stop 90. But 10 still hurt me and I can never win. Because, either I lose or there is a stalemate. You throw a stone when you want, you have peace when you want, and you have talks when you want. In defensive-offense, we see where the balance of equilibriums lies”.
This offensive-defensive scheme is notoriously known as the “Doval Doctrine”. The start of covert operations against Pakistan, which India has done and will continue to do, is the most alarming aspect of the Doval doctrine.
Its nefarious maneuvers in Balochistan are now an open secret. India is assisting separatists in Balochistan (BLA and BLO) in order to bring chaos and instability to Pakistan. BLA is responsible for undertaking attacks against Chinese companies and CPEC projects in Pakistan. The Indian Express, a well-known Indian daily, confirmed that India orchestrated clandestine activities in Balochistan.
It was alleged in September 2013 that the Indian army had deleted records from the so-called “Technical Service Division” (TSD) before the term of army Chief V.K Singh expired.
According to Sushant Singh, “As per reports, the inquiry report said that TSD had claimed to have carried out at least eight covert operations in a foreign country. The TDS also allegedly claimed that in October and November 2011, it had paid money from secret service funds to try and enroll the secessionist chief in a province of the neighbor country”.
According to an analyst, the foreign country mentioned here is Pakistan.
Additionally, the capture of an Indian spy, Kulbhushan Jadhav, by Pakistan raised apprehensions towards India’s covert operations in Pakistan. He was captured in March 2016 in Balochistan.
Jadhav is suspected of being an Indian intelligence officer in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) entrusted with spying and destabilizing actions in Balochistan and Karachi.
But Jadhav is not the first Indian spy caught by Pakistan. Sarabjit Singh, Kashmir Singh, Ravindra Kaushik, and Sheikh Shamim were all Indian spies who were caught and tried for espionage charges.
India’s RAW also had strong links with Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS). Both agencies are suspected of carrying out a series of terrorist strikes in Pakistan. RAW and NDS established sixty training centers in Afghanistan to create chaos and unrest in Pakistan.
And what India is doing in Jammu and Kashmir is again supporting the claim of Mooed Yusuf. India has abrogated Article 370 of its Constitution which guaranteed special and autonomous status to J&K, which has deteriorated peace in the region. Its security forces have been indulging in gross human rights violations against Kashmiris, making Jammu and Kashmir the world’s most militarized zone. According to the JKCCS, approximately 700,000 soldiers are currently deployed in J&K.
All this discussion leads to one conclusion that a peace spoiler, cannot be a peacemaker. Peaceful coexistence, is thus impossible in the presence of India’s aggressive policy in the form of the Doval Doctrine which can only trumpets war, not peace.
The writer is a Research Intern Fellow at the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies and The Diplomatic Insight Magazine
*The views expressed in this article are writer’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of the institutions.
