In a recent article, Pakistan's Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Jasarat argued that the American shift toward India has forced Pakistan to enter into a strategic alliance with China. The article, written by columnist Arif Bahar and titled "The American-Indian Cooperation: Implications and Dangers," maintains that American support for India in building its arsenal is not good news for the future of South Asia.
Bahar goes on to say that the objective of the Chinese cooperation with Pakistan in developing its defense power is to compete against India. The widely circulated Roznama Jasarat, a mouthpiece of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, is published from Karachi and is known for its right-wing views.
The following are excerpts from the article:
"The Happiness Americans Were Feeling At Getting Access To India Might Not Have Been Felt By Columbus At Discovering America"
"According to an American newspaper, the U.S. cooperation with India is creating the danger of an India-Pakistan clash. As per the newspaper, America is increasing its military and nuclear cooperation with India to counter China. As a result, two traditional rivals - Pakistan and India - can clash, as both are equipped with conventional and nuclear weapons. To combat China, the White House and the Department of Defense have recently enhanced defense and nuclear cooperation with India. Such cooperation with [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi will fan tensions between Pakistan and India.
SUPPORT OUR WORK
"The objective of the Chinese cooperation, open and secret, in developing Pakistan's defense power through [supplying] submarines, [building] JF Thunder [fighter jets], and building a strategic road through Kashmir, is to compete with India. In other words, China is supporting Pakistan on land, air, and sea the way America is supporting India. The Pentagon has formed a group that will support India in building an aircraft carrier, on which work will start this month. The American newspaper report is not good news for the future of the people of South Asia.
"After the end of the Cold War, India, sensing which way the winds were blowing in the world, jumped from the sinking Titanic of the Soviet Union and decided to become America's sidekick. It appeared as if Americans also got the kingship of the Seven Empires [proverbial expression for the whole world]. The happiness Americans were feeling at getting access to India, might not have been felt by Columbus at discovering America. For them, the vast area of India and its population of more than one billion was such a world that they had not imagined. They got a vast market for the consumption and selling of their products.
"American business elites put America on the way to conquer this market [i.e. India] at every cost. American policy makers could not withstand the pressure of investors, or perhaps they did not want to resist that pressure as most of the high officials were also advisors or shareholders of multinational companies. They [business leaders] forced America to put all its eggs in the Indian basket instead of playing a balanced role in South Asia. These powers convinced American policy makers that the economically and militarily rising China is the real danger in the region, and if this power was not controlled at its threshold it would devour the West. And only India can confront it [China] at its threshold. Under this philosophy, they started 'puffing up' India."
"America Was Under The Delusion That Not Only Will It Accept India As The Sole Power Against China, But It Will Also Be Able To Convince Pakistan To Accept Indian Dominance And Hegemony"
"Treading the path of these changing political and economic necessities, Americans forgot that they had a traditional ally in the region in the shape of Pakistan, which stood by them in difficult times during the Cold War. Americans even forgot the Pakistan-India disputes and turned their eyes away [from the issue] of Kashmir which has been the basis of several wars between the two countries. In fact, America even adopted the terminology about the Kashmir issue which India used to employ... Whenver Pakistan asked [America] to play a mediatory role in its disputes with India, America avoided the issue on the pretext of impartiality.
"When India made a complaint to America about Pakistan, it [America] adopted the Indian tone and tenor. America was under the delusion that not only will it accept India as the sole power against China, it will also be able to convince Pakistan to accept Indian dominance and hegemony. [America thought that] by bringing in the concept of soft borders between the two countries [such as by allowing people to travel across the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan] it will be able to reduce the intensity of the historical disputes and weapons like the atomic bomb will become irrelevant for Pakistan.
"For this purpose, instead of its eastern border [with India], Pakistan's western border [with Afghanistan] was heated up [i.e. jihadist conflicts were created]. The Taliban threat was created to oppose the Indian Army and the Pakistani Army was made to chase this shadow, but all these schemes have turned upside down and Pakistan, instead of looking at India through American eyes, continued to see things in the light of its past, history, and experiences. Instead of becoming America's 'little' [boy], it took the difficult decision of remaining an ally of China. Pakistan has been paying the price for this decision for many years.
"In its love of India, America has paid even those debts which it was not obliged to pay, including distancing itself from Pakistan. In fact, America, by adopting an impartial attitude, could have won the confidence of both Pakistan and India. By putting its weight on the Indian side, America has weakened its role of a mediator. Now the situation has reached a stage that even an American newspaper writes that American military and nuclear aid to India can lead to war between India and Pakistan. It should also be remembered that both the countries are equipped with nuclear weapons. Still, there is time that America should not try to make India equal to China by puffing it up, and should play its role in the solution of serious disputes like Kashmir, lest time teach them that they [America], in the name of peace and in the name of dim hope of peace, in fact watered the seeds of war."
Source: Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan) June 24, 2015.
