Indo-Pak Relations: How Modi Government’s Foreign Policy has made Pakistan redundant

While praising Pakistan and its people, Congress party’s leader Mani Shankar Aiyar described people of the adversary nation as the “biggest assets of India” and as usual went on to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not engaging with the neighbouring nation. At a time when Pakistan is on the backfoot as there is lack of trust between the powerful Army and political parties, this statement at Faiz Festival in Lahore needs to be nipped in the bud. Aiyar’s statement is in consonance with UPA’s policy to cosy up with Pakistan and China. This was in evidence throughout its decade-long rule at the Centre. Its ineffectiveness in handling foreign policy with hostile neighbours had put Bharat on a weak spot.

If we closely examine the NDA Government over the past ten years, Shri Narendra Modi needs to be complimented for maintaining equidistance from these not so friendly neighbours. This mature approach by the PM has brought peace and prosperity; indeed this kind of foreign policy was badly needed to save Bharat from these two perennial troublemakers. Finally, the people of Bharat are heaving a sigh of relief as they no longer feel vulnerable while roaming on the streets of Shimla or Srinagar, crowded bylanes of Delhi or Mumbai. Terrorism is almost a thing of the past as security forces have been given a free hand to give a befitting reply whenever militants strike them or civilians.

During Congress dispensation or UPA, whenever there was bonhomie with our bugbear Pakistan, there were simultaneously pitched battles on the streets of Kashmir. It resulted in blood of our bravehearts being spilled on the streets of Srinagar and in inhospitable terrain of Himalayas. China, too, has been shown its place as our jawans gave PLA troops a bloody nose when they tried to illegally intrude into our territory in Ladakh in 2020. It’s another matter that Congress keeps claiming that it was China that won in the border clash when both the ruling party and the opposition should be on the same page when it comes to foreign policy. The Modi Government has no agreement with that pro-Pakistan nation. Ironically, it was Congress which signed an agreement with Communist Party of China and demeaned our proud nation and betrayed our jawans when UPA was at Centre.

The nation now needs to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for teaching Pakistan a lesson without waging a war. The nation that Jinnah created cannot expect Bharat to continue trade and allow its wealthy traders from Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore to participate with their ornamental oryx, exotic spices, rich dry fruits and Mughlai food items to India International Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan and encourage its artists to earn moolah on our soil, when simultaneously our soldiers from Pune, Bareilly, Patna, Chennai are dodging bullets on the border or on streets of Kashmir where they are shielding themselves from bullets or bombs of hardened militants trained by ISI. For dozens of years, Pakistan has been running with the hare and hunting with hounds. Its foreign policy has been two-fold – generate revenue by sending its trading community and artists and secondly, to bleed Bharat with loss of soldiers and revenue.

Pakistani Generals were living in a fool’s paradise. They couldn’t possibly imagine that Shri Narendra Modi would understand their game plan and stop them mid-way after years of such practice from 1980s to 2013. No self respecting nation would like its citizens to buy exotic spices, books on poems and try delicacies from a country that believes in the medieval practice of mutilating our soldiers.

Instead of treating our bravehearts according to the Geneva accord, Pakistanis believe in mutilating our soldiers. This fact was clearly in evidence when few of our soldiers accidentally crossed the border before the Kargil war. Subsequnetely, they were subjected to barbaric torture by Pakistani Army regulars. And then their mutilated bodies were sent back to Bharat. Jaswant Singh, an ex-Armyman himself, was in tears when he revealed to a crowded media at PIB what kind of injuries our soldiers were subjected to. I was one of the mediaperson and couldn’t sleep properly thinking about the torture our brave soldiers were subjected to. This fact was highlighted in Hrithik Roshan’s film Fighter, when a Pakistani militant explains with great fondness how he had cut a captured Indian soldier into pieces. This film should be given tax free exemption. Another film Article 370, directed by Aditya Dhar, is scheduled to go on air on February 23 that will speak how scrapping this controversial Article has brought peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir, which was described as “trouble-torn” during UPA era. PM Modi even praised the film that sheds light on terrorism, corruption and Special Status of the State and urgency to eliminate terrorism.

Misusing Gentleman’s Game
For years, Pakistan’s clever plotters have been sending its cricketers as goodwill ambassadors like Imran Khan, Wasim Akhram, Shoaib Akhtar and Shoaib Malik and singers like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to create so-called goodwill. They stayed for years in India and made a lot of money through ads and franchises, which they must have sent to their families in Pakistan. It resulted in making certain big shots of New Delhi and Mumbai gratified as well as those who are in sync with their secular (sickular) agenda.

Ground Reality on the Border

Let me point out an incident when I started off my journalistic career with Bombay’s Afternoon Despatch and Courier, an eveninger brought out by Parsi Editor the late Behram Contractor, I was assigned to go to Wagah border.

Not acquainted with Amritsar, it seemed a daunting task to me. I was then a 26-year-old scribe who thought it was a big event which would give me a big feature story. Veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar, of candlelight vigil fame, was one of the co-hosts and had promised to meet us at the famous Golden Temple where we were told there would be a ‘langar’ and then we would all proceed to Wagah border. But nothing of that sort happened. Fortunately, I took with me a photographer who hailed from Amritsar. His name was Palli and he knew the city at the back of his hands. We went to the Wagah border after resting for a day at Amritsar. At the border, I was left flabbergasted as I was greeted with wailing cries of young women.

During the melee, some women were jostled by an overenthusiastic crowd and apparently manhandled. As they cried hysterically, I thought I was in for a big challenge. Fortunately, my training in a local ‘akhada’, located in a sprawling park in Defence Colony, stood me in good stead. I was able to endure the jostling and make my way into what looked like a vast open area.

Initially, it all looked fine but to my horror, the event turned out to be a nightmare. It was reduced to a musical night with zero participation from the neighbouring nation. For two hours, I was entertained with bhangra and Punjabi sangeet from the Indian side. But there was complete silence from Pakistan’s side. As I went close to the barbed wires, I could hear a faint voice of Noorjahan that came through a lone loudspeaker which was placed horizontally. But no soul was present at the other side of the border. At that tragic juncture, music should have been, Jab Dil Hi Toot gaya, Hum Ji ke Kya Karenge.

This will help readers to understand that such candle-light vigils, organised by who’s who of our celebrities, were nothing but a one sided affair. From Pakistan, there was no reciprocity as their Army did not give weightage to such people-to-people contacts when it came from the Indian side.

Government Backing Bravehearts

Speaking to Organiser, geo-political analyst and columnist, Col (Retd) Jaibans Singh, said the Modi Government was following a zero-tolerance policy towards Pakistan. The policy of the Union Government is that it has given a free hand to the Army that in case there is any misadventure from Pakistan’s side then Bharat would retaliate with a strong response. “As a result, the number of such incidents have gone down. The Government’s pro-active approach has resulted in many positive features. State-of-the-art detection technology is being used to detect movement of troops. Consequently, infiltration of terrorists into our country has gone down. Even if they manage to enter then their life span is five to ten days. Therefore, there’s peace on the border as well as peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir,”

Even though the Pakistani Army every now and then tries to escalate violence, they ensure that their civilian government is at its hospitable best when Indian actors dance to their tunes. Like Dilip Kumar, whose real name was Yusuf Khan and who claimed to be a Pakistani given his Pathan descent, was honoured with Nishan-e-Imtiaz, and Amir Khan, who as a special guest of Imran Khan, auctioned his bat (with which he scored runs during the making of Lagaan) for a charity of their leader, who is languishing in prison these days.
But those who gave the correct picture on how Muslims are being shoddily treated in Pakistan like actor Feroz Khan, were stopped from coming there again. Pervez Musharraf banned the Qurbani filmmaker after he commented on the reality prevailing in the Islamic nation.

Coming back to the Wagah event, when it was time to go, I was told by one of the co-organisers that I would first have to give an interview for a channel that would go on air from a South East Asian nation and then would be sent back safely to Amritsar. After I gave my first hand account of seeing the beautiful city of Amritsar and how I made it from Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh to the Wagah border in a hurried manner, I was expecting to be sent back to the city (Amritsar) in a car. But no, I had to go in a truck in the dead of the night. I thought it was a joke by the gentleman whom I had just given the interview. And took it sportingly. When I saw the decrepit truck with the driver washing his eyes, I realised it was a cruel joke inflicted by organisers who had their own agenda of being seen as “peacemakers” at the cost of harassed journalists, administration and putting unnecessary pressure on the powers that be.

The morale of the story is that such pointless events are of no value and significance as neither there is goodwill from Pakistan’s side nor such events are justified when the neighbouring country is continuing with its bleeding agenda started off from the time of General Zia-Ul-Haq took over administration of Pakistan to aid and abet terrorists, give commando training to armed-to-teeth militants and use its illegally occupied territories in PoK to send these brainwashed youngsters, who have been taught to believe that they would be living in the company of noors once they give up their lives for the cause of jihad.

Bharat has finally realised that its competitor is China and not Pakistan, which has been reduced to a begging bowl, asking financial grants from Washington DC as well as Beijing when both are bugbears. Even the rich Sheikhs and those in the corridors of powers in West Asia are no longer interested in doing business with Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the goodwill of Arab countries. It is reflected in Qatar’s decision to send Indians safely back home.