Modi, Trump & Trumped Out Imran

| IOP Desk - 28 Aug 2019

Pakistan Mulling to Ban Indian Flights Again

Saddened to see an excellent summit of two world leaders Modi and Trump, chuckling and clasping each others' hands, on camera, the trumped out Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former captain of the Pakistani cricket team, who entered politics with a reputation as a licentious “playboy”, is feeling highly frustrated and now once again mulling a complete ban on the use of the country's airspace by Indian flights.

By Onkareshwar Pandey

New Delhi, Aug 28, 2019: Saddened to see an excellent summit of two world leaders Modi and Trump, chuckling and clasping each others' hands, on camera, the trumped out Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former captain of the Pakistani cricket team, who entered politics with a reputation as a licentious “playboy”, is feeling highly frustrated and now once again mulling a complete ban on the use of the country's airspace by Indian flights.

The latest meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 Summit in France has once again, highlighted the great chemistry between the two leaders.

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The whole world was watching the great display of camaraderie between them during a joint media interaction before they got down to their discussions. To a question about talks between the two leaders, PM Modi said in Hindi: "I think you should let us have the discussions first, and then we will let you know whatever is needed."

President Trump then cut in and said, "He actually speaks very good English...he just doesn't want to talk." The two leaders then chuckled and clasped each others' hands; many in the room burst into laughter. Surely, Pakistan would have watched this development with utter frustration and dismay.

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A day after Imran Khan issued a nuclear threat to India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the US President that all issues between India and Pakistan were bilateral in nature and "that is why we don't bother any other country" on it.

Trump showed complete satisfaction with regard to this posture adopted by India. "We spoke last night about Kashmir, Prime Minister really feels he has it under control. They speak with Pakistan and I'm sure that they will be able to do something that will be very good," stated the US President on the subject. He added: "I am good friends with both Prime Ministers, I am here but I think the two can manage it themselves."

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This implies that the US will no longer attempt to mediate between the two nations as had been indicated by Trump earlier post a meeting with the Pakistani prime minister.

"PM is considering a complete closure of air space to India, a complete ban on use of Pakistan land routes for Indian trade to Afghanistan was also suggested in a cabinet meeting, legal formalities for these decisions are under consideration," Chaudhry, a close aide of Pakistan PM, tweeted on Aug 27, 2019 after watching the Modi-Trump body language and the President Trump's stand.

Pakistan had fully closed its airspace on February 26, and fully reopened the airspace on July 16. Air India, the country's flag carrier, operates around 50 flights daily through Pakistani airspace to the US, Europe and the Middle East.

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Chaudhry said that a blanket ban on the use of Pakistani land routes for India's trade with Afghanistan was also suggested during the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday.

Pakistan prime minister said that he will raise the Kashmir issue at every international forum, including at the UN General Assembly next month.

Chaudhry's statement came after the statement of Pakistan Opposition leader and Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) chairman, Bilawal Bhutto, who observed that earlier Pakistan would talk about snatching Srinagar from India, but now it has become difficult to even save Muzaffarabad.

"Earlier our policy on Kashmir would be on how to grab Srinagar, now it is about how to save Muzaffarabad," said Bhutto. Muzaffarabad is the capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).

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Bhutto blamed Imran Government's weak policies for the current state of affairs. Prime Minister Imran Khan has clearly become nervous and helpless and is now without friends and support within and outside of Pakistan.

The tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi went ahead and revoked Article 370 of the Constitution which gave special status to J&K and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories on August 5.

A rattled Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi. Pakistan asserted that India's abolition of Kashmir's self-rule move was illegal and it started a diplomatic push to try to persuade the global community to intervene.

However, the country's foreign minister rightly admitted that India's trading power and Pakistan's isolation leave Islamabad with little leverage. Despite India imposing a strict military crackdown in what is India's only Muslim-majority state, Pakistan's allies in the Gulf have remained quiet.

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Pakistan launched a diplomatic offensive aimed at reversing the order and prevailed upon the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency session to address India's "illegal actions.” But now, with the US having changed its posture the Pakistani initiative is also bound to fizzle out.

Barely a week ago, on Aug 20, the US President Donald Trump had dialled Pakistan PM after speaking to PM Narendra Modi, and asked him to tone down the rhetoric against India and avoid escalating tensions over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

In July this year, the Imran Khan government had offered a pre-summit olive branch to the US with the arrest of Hafiz Saeed, a radical cleric and U.S.-wanted terrorist suspect implicated in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Saeed was arrested in Punjab Province while traveling from Lahore to Gujranwala.

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Now, with only China siding with it, that too from the back door, and having been snubbed by almost all international groupings, Imran Khan finds himself cornered over Kashmir and hence the nervousness. This is also the reason why Imran Khan is raising the rhetoric of a nuclear war over Kashmir.

The situation is such that even Imran Khan harbours the fears that have been spoken out by Bilawal Bhutto. He too has expressed an apprehension that his country may end up losing POK which he terms as, “the first line of defence for Pakistan.”

The Pakistani PM warned India that Islamabad was prepared to respond to any aggression in the disputed region of Kashmir, vowing the time had come to teach New Delhi a lesson.

“The Pakistani army has solid information that they are planning to do something in Pakistani Kashmir, and they are ready and will give a solid response,” Khan said during a televised speech in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. “We have decided that if India commits any type of violation we will fight till the end,” he said.

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However, Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan knows very well, that Pakistan will never succeed to defeat India on the pitch of Military ground. Also, because he knows that Pakistan is already on the way to bankruptcy.

This was evident from his own eye-opening historic speech, which he gave a year ago on Aug 20, 2018, “In the history of Pakistan economic conditions were not as bad as are today. Presently, Pakistan is burdened with a loan of Rs 28000 billion, while 10 years ago, the loan of Pakistan was Rs. 6 thousand billion, that our debt in the 60 years history. Rs. 6 thousand billion increased up to Rs 15,000 billion in 2013. And today this loan has reached Rs 28,000 billion. The debt of 60 years of domestic history is on one side and the last 10 years loan is on the other.”

“In the last year of the previous PPP government foreign debt was $ 2 billion, in the past one year, we are borrowing $ 2 billion each month and when the PPP government ended in 2013 our foreign debt went to 60 billion, which is $ 95 billion today and that is the real problem of our country that our overseas debt has increased so much and the main reason for the highest pressure on rupees is that ours Foreign loans grew so fast and we have reached today that we are facing difficulty to return back those loans, “ PM Imran had said.

“We cannot feed 45% of Pakistan’s children. If we do not change our way of thinking, what will become of our 2.5 billion out of school children.... Look at us, our 2.5 billion children are out of school.

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Referring to a UNDP report, PM Imran said, “Pakistan is among those 5 countries in which most of our children die before the age of 5 due to diseases caused by contaminated water. Pakistan is also included in top 5 countries of the world where the rate of female mortality is very high. Unfortunately, we are among the top 5 countries in the world where children Die because of malnutrition resulted in stunted growth. I have been telling people till today, but people have not understood. I will again ask you to change,” Pakistan PM had said.

But, maybe due to the internal politics and pressure from the Militant groups as well as ISI, Pakistan PM is beating the drums of fourth war with India, knowingly that Pakistan has fought thrice to get defeated and divided.

No doubt, Kashmir has been a buffer zone for Pakistan in its security strategic formulation. It has served Pakistan well in formulating its Kashmir policy. The military establishment of Pakistan that controls the Kashmir narrative of the country realises this.

With the scrapping of the special status, Pakistan's direct and sponsored activities on either side of the Line of Control (LOC) in the state has become problematic. Things will not move smoothly as before.

Imran Khan is now criticising the ideology of BJP and RSS and talking about those who were opposed to the ‘Two Nation’ theory. Pakistan had never thought that India will take such a big step so quickly. This is the first time, that the Indian government is acting and not reacting.

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The change in the status of J&K means that Indian operations along the LOC will be more robust and better-coordinated while keeping a tighter vigil on Pakistan's activities in POK and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Indian forces will come much closer to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the only significant developmental project, in the POK region.

Pakistan's deep state has infiltrated various levels of public life in Kashmir Valley and used to finds it easy to operate from its bases in POK. With local government coming under the direct control of New Delhi all information would reach the central government directly so this control will get considerably weakened. As things stand at the moment it is advantage India all the way. Image credit - Google

(Onkareshwar Pandey is Editor in Chief & CEO, Indian Observer Post, and former Senior Group Editor- Rashtriya Sahara (Hindi & Urdu) and also former Editor (News), ANI. http://bit.ly/2mh7hih).

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