Weaponised region

Well-choreographed recent attack in Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan on security forces is case in point

Pakistan has raised two pertinent points at the UNSCl on proliferations of arms in South Asia. One; it needs to be probed as to how come non-state actors are in possession of modern weapons, and Two; there is a generosity on the part of major powers to appease a particular country in the region, and it is leading to stockpiling of conventional weapons. Both the above references are subscribed to Afghan terror elements and India. The submission from Pakistan’s representative at the UN should not be read in its hostility towards both its western and eastern neighbours, but at the ongoing tendency of terrorism, insecurity and weaponisation of the region. It is no secret that there is a nexus between gun-running, organised crime and terrorism, and this is what is costing the stability and security of more than two billion people in the region.

It needs to be questioned why India enjoys an edge when it comes to favouritism, and all rules are flaunted in supplying it with modern warfare gadgets, technology and ammunition. This is inevitably fueling instability and jeopardising the balance of power in the region and beyond. South Asia, read with the wider connotation of Afghanistan, is one of the most volatile regions, and the perpetual unrest is toiling in terms of hampering trade and zeroing the prospects of connectivity and geo-economics. This is all because of extra-territorial powers’ vested interests to meddle in the region, and to keep it on the edges. The China-India row is fanned by the US, and likewise, the uneasy relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The envoy was right as he pointed out the non-conventional threats in the form of illicit trafficking and misuse of small arms and light weapons.

The well-choreographed recent attack in Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan on security forces is a case in point. Fugitive elements such as those in Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, as well as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda are thriving because they have access to weaponry. So is the alarming military expenditure of India. This enigma must be checked, and earlier the better.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2023.

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