Indian False Strategic
Narratives: Pakistan-India Tension Still Remains By Sajjad Shaukat (JR163SS42)
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood
Qureshi said on April 7, this year: “Pakistan has credible intelligence reports
that India is planning another act of aggression against it between 16th and
20th of this month”. He elaborated that in order to justify its military action
and to increase diplomatic pressure against Pakistan; India can create a new
drama in Occupied Kashmir on the pattern of Pulwama. He further said that in
view of these facts, “the Foreign Office immediately invited the ambassadors of
permanent members of UN Security Council and apprised them of Pakistan’s
apprehensions on developments, taking place in the neighboring country” and
added that “country’s Foreign Secretary impressed upon them that international
community should take notice of this dangerous development and stop India.”
Taking note of Indian prospective attack, Indian
Deputy High Commissioner was summoned to Foreign Office in Islamabad to warn
his country against any misadventure targeting Pakistan.
Very tension escalated rapidly between India
and Pakistan when on February 27, this year, in response to the Indian
so-called pre-emptive air strike near the
town of Balakot, close to the border with Pakistan’s sector of Kashmir,
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter
jets and launched aerial strikes at six targets in the Indian Occupied Kashmir
(IoK).
Addressing a
press conference on the same day, Director General of Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services
Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen. Asif Ghafoor said that Pakistan Air
Force have conducted aerial strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) from
Pakistani airspace and shot down two Indian aircraft. One of the two Indian air force pilots was taken
into custody.
Regarding Indian surgical strike, Maj-Gen. Asif Ghafoor
explained: “There are only mud-brick homes. There is no madrassas.
There isn’t even a concrete house…Two of the dried mud structures were damaged
in the explosions…No one has been killed, no one has been seriously hurt…Indian
planes crossed into the Muzafarabad sector of Pakistani-side of
Kashmir…Pakistan scrambled its warplanes and the Indian jets released their
payload in haste near Balakot.”
Afterwards, journalists visited the targeted site of
Balakot and Islamabad also released a video which exposed the false statements
of New Delhi that IAF fighters targeted the camp of
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and killed 350 militants.
Following the false flag Pulwama terror attack in the Indian Held
Kashmir (IHK), which killed 44 Indian soldiers—Islamist
militant group JeM claimed responsibility soon for the car suicide attack, New
Delhi provoked Islamabad through the so-called surgical strike.
Without any
investigation and evidence Indian high officials and media started accusing
Islamabad, saying that the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the
assault.
However, various
contradictory developments and reports proved that Pulwama terror attack was a
false flag operation, conducted by New Delhi to malign Islamabad in order to
obtain various anti-Pakistan designs.
During the press briefing on February 26, 2019, India
Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale called the strikes on
Pakistani soil “non-military preemptive action”. He refused to answer questions by the media, as he could not show any proof
in this respect.
Western media disclosed that India failed in providing
any evidence or video in relation to her claim of killing 350 militants inside
Pakistani side of Kashmir. While Islamabad acted responsibly by releasing
Indian captured pilot as “a gesture of peace”, as stated by country’s Prime
Minister Imran Khan.
It is
mentionable that India’s 21 opposition parties and famous figures, chief
ministers of Delhi, Bengal, puppet chief minister of IoK, civil society groups
and artists criticized the Prime Minister Narendar Modi for continuing his
scheduled public events, including an election rallies, while staying mum amid
a major military stand-off with Pakistan. However, it shows Indian diplomatic
defeat. Besides these internal entities of India and even the leaders of
extremist ruling party-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other similar outfits
severely criticized Modi’s false strategic claims regarding Pakistan.
Meanwhile, in a rare joint press conference by the top brass of
the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force on February 28, 2019, the top military
officers also presented evidence that Pakistan had AMRAAM missiles mounted on
its American-made F-16 fighter jets to target Indian military installations. Concealing
ground realities, the press briefing by the Indian military’s high officials
appeared to be an apology of the highest order, clueless and confused. They had
no answers to the questions of the journalists and even no proof of claimed
damage in Balakot strike was presented. They could not supply any evidence of
JeM camp and killing of 350 terrorists. The air force officer stated that he
cannot comment on it and left it to the civil government. Similarly, no
evidence of Pakistani F-16 which they claimed was shot down could be presented
in the briefing. While, they confirmed aerial strikes of Pakistan on the Indian
Controlled Kashmir by displaying fragments from
a missile they claimed matched the Pakistani F-16 fighter jet that purportedly
crossed into Indian airspace and was shot down.
Pakistan was
quick to claim that it did not use F-16s in the attack and that it had lost no
aircraft. Nevertheless, one of the pictures released by Pakistan showed
wreckage of the MiG-21 fighter.
Failed in
providing any proof, New Delhi has continued false strategic narratives that
IAF shoot down Pakistan’s F-16 during aerial fight. In this regard, Indian military shared radar images, asserting that it has
“irrefutable evidence” of shooting down F-16. Indian air force’s
much-anticipated press conference failed to present “irrefutable evidence”
which could challenge Islamabad’s firm stand about Pakistan’s F-16.
On
the other side, ISPR spokesman invited America to send a team to count the
number of F-16 aircraft, which would expose Indian false strategic narrative.
Nonetheless,
the gist of the conference was IAF’s claim that they have the ‘evidence’, but
they cannot share it, expecting people to take their word for it. This indicates that the press conference was
less about providing evidence and more about fighting the war of narratives
that ISPR is currently winning.
While,
the fact is that the Pentagon and the US Department of Defense never
categorically refuted Islamabad’s claim which means that India did not score a
hit. The real war now is the war of narratives and India is desperately trying
to cover its embarrassment. Moreover, as to why India did not ask the Pentagon
(Pakistan has lot of haters there) that the US did not carry out a count of Pak
F-16 fleet? All the articles coming out
of major American policy and news outlet indicate that the US establishment is
not endorsing P.M Modi false strategic narratives.
It
is expected that the ISPR will share some hard evidence anytime soon to
decimate India’s data on the paper and embarrass India further. It will have
serious implications on Indian politics; Modi’s bid to get elected, civil
military relations in India and the country’s image abroad.
It is of
particular attention that Indian Prime Minister Modi’s extremist party BJP had
got a land sliding triumph in the Indian elections 2014 on the basis of
anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan slogans. Therefore, since the Prime Minister Modi
came to power, he has been implementing anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan agenda
with the support of fanatic coalition outfits.
Now, again, Modi
is creating war hysteria and jingoism among the Hindus against the Muslims and
Pakistan as part of the BJP strategy to win the Indian general elections 2019.
In this connection, assaults of Hindus on the Muslims and violations of LoC by
shelling inside Pakistani side of Kashmir have been accelerated.
Taking
cognizance of Indian war-mongering diplomacy, Pakistan’s armed forces are on
high alert especially along the LoC and are prepared to deal with any Indian
aggression.
We can conclude
that so as to divert the attention of the international community from the
Indian security forces’ state terrorism which have been intensified on the
innocent Kashmiris and to avoid the settlement of Kashmir issue with Pakistan
and as part of the election-strategy, P.M. Modi can take the risk of conventional
war with Pakistan, which could be culminated into nuclear war.
Sajjad Shaukat
writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic
Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International
Relations
Email: sajjad_logic
@yahoo.com
