It seems that our Foreign Office has lost its way after the attack on the Uri army camp. Even as the BRICS meet at Goa has not resulted in isolation of Pakistan that India was aiming for (the final declaration does not condemn ‘cross-border terrorism’, Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad), the Prime Minister has complicated matters by likening the Indian Army’s ‘surgical strikes’ across the LoC to Israel’s methods.
India’s newfound fascination for Israel could enable Pakistan to run away with its argument that Kashmir is another Palestine, “illegally occupied by India for 70 years”! Israel, the Prime Minister should know, is nobody’s favourite. It perpetuates its illegal occupation of Gaza and West Bank by bombarding inhabitants, fencing them, and not allowing them access to their holy shrines.
The Israel analogy may help Pakistan assert with greater force, “that the Indian army has been heaping atrocities upon Kashmiris in illegally occupied territory”. One need hardly stress that Kashmir is an integral part of India, not least because Kashmiris rejected the idea of Pakistan in 1947 — the only country, ironically apart from Israel, to have been explicitly created on the basis of religion. Besides, the Israel remark may strain India’s ties with Iran, and help China gain strategic mileage in the region. Iran wants to be part of the ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Its ties with Pakistan have picked up in recent times.
At Goa, India should have focused on what BRICS has been all about: trade and finance. With US showing signs of looking inward, China perhaps senses its chance of expanding its influence through BRICS and other forums.
For India to miss this big picture and obsessively flog the terrorism theme suggests that it is out of sync with the times.
Senior Deputy Editor