The tensions between India and Pakistan have been sizzling in numerous forms over the years. Sabotaged projects, UN complaints, and interventions, crimes against innocent people – these have just been some of the forms of “silent war” these two countries have exchanged over the years.
Of course, the majority of “bullets” that were launched between the two Asian forces were only verbal. The word “only” here only signifies the insignificance of the war of words in comparison to real ones. However, such occurrences can still be detrimental to the geopolitical situation of a whole continent.
Dire warnings and harsh words
This war of words escalated once again, thanks to the words of the director of Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor. In a media briefing, he accused the Indian government of violating the ceasefire agreement more than ever in 2017. It was a harsh accusation that took the present media members aback immediately. After the initial verbal assault, Asif Ghafoor elaborated further.
“53 civilians were martyred and over 200 injured,” he continued.
It’s a startling statistic brought forth by the Pakistani government in the midst of the intra-country quarrels with India. After the data briefing, Asif Ghafoor continued to say that Indian efforts against Pakistan are a clear testament to the fact that India, in fact, does not want to aid Pakistan to beat the terrorist forces ravaging the country. Afterwards, he issued a grim warning, stating that the laziness of the Indian government might come back and haunt them when terrorism enters their country in unspectacular fashion.
In order to try and tame terrorist activity, the government has dispatched special forces personnel along the border with Afghanistan, the confirmed point of entry of extremist forces into the country. Due to the mountainous region at which the border is located, the passage is very easy, according to the officials at ISPR.
Moreover, both Asif Ghafoor and other ISPR spokespeople have stated that the U.S., their proposed ally, needs to crack down hard on anti-Pakistan activity, not only on the border with Afghanistan, but also on the Line of Control (LOC) alongside the Indian border.
No compromising on honor
Despite the crackdown by the U.S. forces and officials, the ISPR clearly stated that they won’t put the country’s safety at risk under any conditions whatsoever. This includes every sort of intervention that the U.S. and other countries deem necessary for regional peace.
“What kind of friends or allies are we, notices must be given at a certain point. Pakistan cannot be compromising of its honor. When it comes to the security of Pakistan, we are all one”, said the Major General.
His rant included mild threats and conclusions that favored peace within Pakistan over the regional peace.
Many notable experts on South Asian geopolitics have agreed that, although Asif Ghafoor’s statements are warranted from an esoteric standpoint, they threaten to further destabilize the already sensitive situation that engulfs the entire region. Furthermore, the self-proclaimed “fundamentalist, but not extremist” Major General is beneficial to his own country, but that fundamentalism can mean the end of peace in the region as we know it.
Also, it doesn’t help that Asif Ghafoor doesn’t restrain from anti-Indian comments on both his official and personal twitter accounts. His tweets don’t rival the ones of Donald Trump in terms of destabilization, but they’re not helping either.
No Indian soldier crossed over LOC. Indian media claim is a continuation of their self-defeating projections to satisfy the domestic audience. – Dec 26
No parallel to Pak Army in the world. Our achievements against terrorism despite commitments on eastern border are remarkable” – Nov 10
As it is evident from the aforementioned tweets, the Major General is as expressive in his statements as he is in his private opinions stated on Twitter.
“Pakistan has done enough”
Additional rage was felt during the briefing. The reason for this burst of accusations were the presumably false accusations coming from the U.S. and Afghanistan that there are multiple terrorists based in Pakistan. Vehemently denying the hypothesis, the Major General stated that there is great suspicion in such open accusations against someone who has done more than enough for regional peace.
“We have been saying that Pakistan has fought twice an imposed and imported war inside Pakistan. We have sacrificed a lot. We have paid a huge price both in blood and treasure. We have done enough and we cannot do any more for anyone. Whatever we are doing and shall, will only be done for Pakistan.”
Additionally, he said he didn’t thank the U.S. for the Coalition Support Fund because it was merely a means of compensating for the immense efforts Pakistan has invested in order to defeat terrorism in the entire region.
“Had we not supported, al-Qaeda would not have been defeated,” proclaimed the chief of the ISPR.
“Time for US, Afghanistan to try harder”
Commenting on the incident with the Haqqani Network, Asif Ghafoor denied the accusations of any form of inaction and has dispersed the criticism that the Pakistani Army has faced from all possible sides. Moreover, he added that the only way to make sure there is no terrorism in Pakistan is if the 2.7 million Afghan refugees are sent back to their home countries. Additionally, the Major General pointed out that this type of move needs to be orchestrated with the help of Kabul and Washington at the same time.
In a briefing with other ISPR spokespeople, we got the following statement: “To control cross-border movement, we have started to fence 2,611 kilometers of Pak-Afghan border. We have also started construction of additional posts and forts. On the average every 1.5-2 kilometers, we will have a physical presence.”
Aside from accusations aimed at India, Asif Ghafoor was busy blaming the Afghani for laziness as well.
“In fact, it’s the turn and time for Afghanistan and US to do more, rather than asking Pakistan.”
“No other country than Pakistan is interested in peace in Afghanistan because we understand that peace in Afghanistan is essential for peace in Pakistan as well.”
