‘terror tool’
| Date :05-May-2019 |
THAT Pakistan uses terrorism as a tool against India, now stands endorsed -- this time by none other than Mr. Michael Morell, former Acting Director of the United States’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Though the whole world had always known this, the endorsement by a top American spy and Intelligence administrator adds a special value to common knowledge.
This drags Pakistan’s ugly underbelly out in the open in bad light. In the past few years, the US is getting increasingly disillusioned by the way Pakistan conducts itself. Before that, too, the US leaders often chastised Pakistan for its ugly role in sponsorship of terrorism, but stopped short of taking any direct action to curb the menace. Perhaps, they realised that their effort would be futile. Also, as part of the American global strategy, it helped them to keep Pakistan under their umbrella as a regional stooge in Asia. Yet, it was President Mr. Barack Obama who realised the American folly started a patient correctional process. No matter the differences current President Mr. Donald Trump may have with his immediate predecessor, he also agrees that Pakistan needs to be chastised on the issue of terror. Mr. Michael Morell’s assertion about Pakistan’s use of terror as a tool against India has only highlighted the change of mood in US leadership in a more pronounced manner.
The joining of hands by the US, France, and the United Kingdom in having terror mastermind Masood Azhar as global terrorist further endorsed the reality of how Pakistan uses terrorism as a tool in its foreign policy apparatus. And this has been the most troublesome point in India’s effort to establish a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan in the past seven decades. Initially, Pakistan used its Army regulars as camouflaged tribals to grab whatever they could from Indian territory in Kashmir, in which it succeeded in slicing off some parts of Kashmir. Then came the effort to wage direct wars with India, in which it ended up in huge ignominy of even having to lose East Pakistan totally.
And then came the current phase of using terrorism as an officially sponsored tool to trouble India. The actual idea of using terror was to keep itself out of picture and still wage a proxy war. In this dirty design, however, Pakistan could not succeed as the world knew instantaneously that it was Pakistan that was behind the terror game.
For Pakistan it was a major failure as well as a paradoxical success, in the sense its purpose of needling India every now and then was served in big measure. These off-and-on successes not withstanding, Pakistan now stands fully exposed as regards its unholy proxy wars, thanks to India’s patient and persistent diplomacy in addition to building a superior military and security machine to keep the Pakistani Armed Forces as well as terrorists at bay. The Indian persistence has also paid off well as the world, too, now knows fully what sorts of ugly games Pakistan has been indulging in for decades. All these dimensions get endorsed by Mr. Michael Morell who did not mind describing Pakistan as one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Pakistan may remain undisturbed by such criticism, but its leaders would not be able to shake off the dirty image their shenanigans have earned for the country.