India’s foul play in sight
India’s obsession to go over the board is in the spotlight. Its espionage and sabotage activities are no longer a secret. The fascist manner in which it was allegedly involved in the extermination of a Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada is a dare-devil case of throwing to the wind diplomatic norms. Likewise, the point that New Delhi sleuths were found pants down in Qatar and sentenced to death by Doha authorities for spying is another open and shut case of transgression. It is mind boggling that India was found involved in providing Israel with details of Qatar’s plans to purchase advanced submarines from Italy. This reflects that India is not only flexing its muscles geo-strategically but also bent upon harming other state’s interests for the sake of its arrogance and brinkmanship.
The Foreign Office on Friday rightly brought to the fore its concerns as it said that India’s sinister behaviour is in need of being checked. Its agenda against Pakistan was exposed as a former naval officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was spying for India, was arrested from Balochistan. Similarly, there are human rights violations in Kashmir where a million-strong army is out to obliterate Kashmiris and apart from genocide and terrorism, it is also involved in socio-economically uprooting the people under occupation. India’s foul play is now formally acknowledged and pointed out even by the western states, who otherwise are its allies. This should come as a point of concern for global citizens who cherish decent bilateral relations, and shun jingoism in inter-state affairs.
India must be put in the dock by asking it to prove its non-involvement in such nefarious activities, or risk sanctions from the international community. Delhi must recognise that the world has moved away from the Cold War mentality, and it is an era of interdependence and geo-economics. India’s endeavour to form new strategic alignments with extra-territorial forces at the cost of regional cooperation is a misnomer in today’s diplomacy of interdependence.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2023.
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