India’s polite refusal to Turkey’s offer to mediate with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue reaffirms our position that Islamabad must give up its efforts to internationalise the dispute by stoking terrorism at the borders and in the Kashmir Valley. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an exclusive interview to WION, had called for “strengthening multilateral dialogue” to settle the Kashmir question for all time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took care to assert that Kashmir was an “internal” matter of India and that for a meaningful dialogue to begin with Pakistan, it must stop sponsoring cross-border terrorism. Any other position would play into the hands of Pakistan which believes that the international community will heap pressure on India only when the pot is kept boiling.
Last month, Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, violated India’s lakshman rekha on Kashmir when she suggested that the Trump administration expected to “find its place” in talks and did not want to “wait till something happens”. The problem with these interventions is that these allow Pakistan to get away lightly with its attempts to internationalise the issue. It is a matter of concern that despite India leading a high-voltage diplomatic offensive against Pakistan at the UN and in bilateral forums, few countries are willing to call out Pakistan’s support for terror even when they condemn cross-border terrorism — as Turkey has done just now.
The reason is the changing geopolitics of central Asia where America’s clout has receded and Pakistan swiftly shifting tracks to join the Chinese bandwagon. China’s infrastructural push and Pakistan’s leverage among Sunni jihadi groups is expected to play a key role in the changing trade and strategic equations in the region.
Turkey has given up on the European Union and is now looking towards Asia to boost trade and economic relations. In this context, it was important that Erdogan’s visit saw India and Turkey commit to improving trade and cultural ties. The silence of world nations to the beheading of its two soldiers is proof that, ultimately, India has to diligently pursue its strategic interests vis-a-vis Pakistan, and there is little likelihood of other countries totally isolating or persuading Pakistan to back off from its evil designs on India.
