India - Pakistan: Article 370 No Longer an issue for Pakistan!
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
In a televised interview last week, SM Qureshi, Pakistan’s foreign affairs minister surprisingly stated that Article 370 was an internal matter of India and that what concerned Pakistan was Article 35A, which implied changing demography of the valley. This is the exact opposite to comments made by him during the past two years, writes Harsha Kakar (retired Major-General).
Kakar recalls “Qureshi had criticized the OIC last August on not questioning the changed status of Kashmir, leading to degradation of ties with Saudi Arabia. Such was the aura of Article 370 within the Pakistani polity that its cabinet on 1 April this year deferred demands to procure sugar and cotton from India till the article was reinstated…..”
China, on Pakistan’s request, attempted to raise the changed status of Kashmir in a UNSC closed door meeting in August 2019, but this was blocked by other members, claiming it to be India’s internal matter. Turkey also backed Pakistan on Article 370 in international fora. To support Pakistan’s stance, Kakar says many paid pro-Pak senators in the US and few members of parliament in the UK adversely commented on India.
With Army changing its stance, politicians have no choice but to fall in line
Suddenly, a month later everything reverses and Article 370 means nothing. This change in Pakistan’s stance, therefore, “is not without reason.” The change came from General Bajwa, Pakistan’s army chief who said that Article 370 is not an issue of concern for Pakistan as it never recognised this provision of the Indian Constitution as one of any value for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. He added that more important from Pakistan’s point of view was restoration of statehood, and that there should be no demographic change in Kashmir.
On the Cabinet’s decision of not procuring sugar and cotton from India, Bajwa in an interaction with select journalists, had commented that the political leadership may have had its own compulsions, but there was no way forward towards peace other than trade with neighbours. If General Bajwa, the determiner of the country’s foreign policy towards India, professes this view, Kakar says “Pakistan’s politicians have no choice…”
This message, worries Kakar “has not been lost on India Backchannel talks between India and Pakistan involved members of the Pakistan army and ISI but not its polity…….Hence, the Pakistan narrative projected over the past two years has begun to change. Bajwa’s announcement of reality was a message for Pakistani politicians to reverse their stand.”
Saudi Arabia sponsoring India’s line
Kakar notes the interview by Qureshi, displaying a change in stance, was aired a day before the visit of Imran Khan to Saudi Arabia. “This could have been a pre-requisite for restoration of ties between the two states. The joint statement issued at the end of the visit ‘emphasised the importance of dialogue between Pakistan and India to resolve outstanding issues between the two countries, especially J and K, to ensure peace and stability in the region.’ There was no mention of any support by the OIC nor demands on India nor any criticism of India’s Kashmir policy. The Saudis had conveyed the strong Indian message to Pakistan, and it was accepted without a whimper.”
Pakistan ‘has dumped its support to valley political parties and pro-Pakistani factions’
Kakar goes as far as stating the Pakistan “has dumped its support to valley political parties and pro-Pakistani factions who have been demanding restoration of the article……Currently, with Pakistan changing its stance there is silence within the valley as politicians and leaders of the pro-Pakistan Hurriyat realise they have been used and dumped. Another message clearly sent is that the Hurriyat is no longer a party to any future talks.”
This change in stance, therefore, “is a positive move for Indo-Pak dialogue, but uncomfortable for the Pakistan government. It will now have to convince its own hardliners on why it has changed tack. It will also not go down well with the valley political parties and pro-Pak elements who have been banking on Pakistani support for restoring the article. The Indian government played its cards well…..”
