Outsourcing to the enemy

India has a huge industry catering to the outsourcing needs of many large IT-related firms around the world. A large chunk of Indian students in American universities are enrolled in computer science programmes upon completion of which they dream of returning home to work in their thriving IT industry. While in the US, if one calls customer support of a number of different companies, one is connected to a customer service agent who speaks in a distinct Indian accent of English that many Americans mimic for amusement.

However, IT and customer support apart where American firms use India for outsourcing, when it comes to political interests and political strategies, the reverse is true. New Delhi uses Washington to put pressure on Pakistan and attempts to achieve goals that India alone cannot achieve in Pakistan. Pakistan was put on the FATF ‘grey list’ with massive Indian urging in the background. LeT and JuD faced massive crackdowns from Pakistani authorities as a result of the same outsourcing of pressure on Pakistan. Complaints about LeT and JuD emanate from Washington but they smell of New Delhi. In August 2017, LeT chief Hafiz Saeed created the Mili Muslim League (MML) as a front for the group to contest in the 2018 general elections. The US State Department has added it to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTO) and seven members of the MML leadership were added to Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). Now, allowing the MML to run for election puts Pakistan in direct confrontation with the United States.

In Afghanistan, Washington blames Rawalpindi for its unofficial defeat there. Washington has a unique tendency due to which whoever may be an ally today may have been or would be in future, an enemy. Just like Washington was propping up the Mubarak regime in Egypt and as soon as the Tahrir Square protesters came close to removing Mubarak, Washington started behaving as if it was always on the side of the people and not the dictatorship. That is a remarkable tendency. Rawalpindi repeatedly urged Washington to negotiate with the Taliban. As we all know, America doesn’t negotiate with the terrorists and it’s true because they say so. Today, negotiating with the Taliban is suddenly packaged in Stars and Stripes.

Washington is basically pursuing Indian wishes, while personalising Pakistan’s strategy. Little doubt can exist over where this strategy is headed. Regardless of their nefarious ambitions and plans, the three main stakeholders want to see an end to the Afghan conflict. One, Americans are weary of war and ending the longest American war is a Trump campaign promise and he seems to be keeping his promises regardless of how ridiculous they may be. Two, more than the implementation of the Sharia law or the Pashtunwali code, the Taliban want to see the occupation forces leave their beloved land. Three, Pakistan wants and needs a peaceful western border free of Indian interference. The only stakeholder or rather fake stakeholder in this quagmire is India, which I suspect doesn’t want an end to this war. Because the more this war drags on, the more chances of Rawalpindi and Washington being at loggerheads with each other. And that right there is a great source of satisfaction for the Pakistan and ISI obsessed Indians. Otherwise, what benign intentions can India have in keeping a presence in Afghanistan, a country with which it shares no border, no culture, no language or even religion? The three stakeholders need to realise that this is the quintessential game theory situation, where their gain means loss for the Indians. Because only India is the enemy of peace here.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2018.

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