India’s fulfillment of its wish to have a road from Afghanistan to the Iranian port opening at the Persian Gulf may bring a possibility of prosperity to the three countries, but prosperity is a commodity that comes after peace; prosperity cannot be dreamt of over a soil forcefully occupied against the will of its people. In such diction, Iraq that has a daily average of dozens of killings via bomb blasts and terrorism a daily bomb blast, has been rated 7th in world’s fastest growing economies and Libya that is in constant political turmoil and instability since Feb. 2011 is the 2cd fastest by the World Bank, while the CIA World Factbook ranks Afghanistan as the world’s 8th fastest already.
Human populations are not trading grounds for profits, Afghanistan and Iraq cannot be measured in terms of their profitability alone; individuals that constituent a state need moral satisfaction in their freedom, their welfare and their respect in the community of nations, and to think that a people forcefully occupied still have their self-respect intact is a self-deception. Therefore if the road from Afghanistan to Chabahar, means an assurance of permanent presence and hegemonic control of India on Afghanistan, then such a proposition is unacceptable to the people of Afghanistan as well as those of Pakistan who are ever the much wary of the un-limitable imperialistic greed of India. Moreover to allow India to nest at Pakistan’s western borders when already towards the east it never fails to create threat, also when it is not compromising even an inch from its nuclear ambitions, as obvious from a recent report.
Therefore the policy for Pakistan cannot be of the ‘lame duck’ version, deterrence has to be shown from Pakistan, who has been defending the right to freedom of its two unfortunate neighbors, Kashmir and Afghanistan, in all democratic ways as possible, and has in fact set an example for the international community that it is a peace loving country with no imperialistic designs, and a friendly neighbor who can be relied upon when times are hard. Pakistan should use all the diplomatic tools it has to bar India’s evil plan that may result in total instability of the region. To loose Iran, a potential ally to an India, that has inflicted 3 major wars upon us already, and to give it a permanent station our head is just like inviting our own doom.
So the PM’s assertion upon India has not come in a wrong time and nor should India consider it an empty one. India should not forget that the people of Afghanistan at geographically, culturally and religiously one with Pakistan, and Pakistan wants it’s equal brethren on its borders to live a free, prideful life, enjoying their democratic right to whatever way of life they choose for themselves. And will stand with its head held up high in the community of nations as a defender of peace, liberty and welfare of humanity, though its enemies would keep maligning it as a disrupter of progress; and will on maligning it as a terrorist, even when it is only a victim of terror and a victim of an alliance from hell.
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After Soviet withdrawal, Afghanistan has seen what its “brotherly” neighbour has done to it. The country literally went to dogs with complete anarchy under the Pakistan supported Taliban regime. Afghanistan is a land locked sovereign country that would like to have all options open for its over all development. Why should Pakistan or anyone else should have any problems with Afghanistan trading through Chabahar port. If Pakistan does not like doing business with India that does not mean others wont do either. China and India do lots of business and so all the major economies of the world including muslim nations. The fact is that your imagination about India’s so called “evil designs” in the region is neither bought by Afghanistan nor Iran nor any other country of this region. The article only tries to prove one thing that Pakistan would want to keep a control on Afghanistan by denying it an independent foreign policy and use its land and people for its nefarious designs against India. Also, Afghanistan has historically been India’s neighbour with close cultural ties. On religion front you always forget that there are as many muslims in India as in Pakistan. Let Afghans decide their own future.
If Nawaz Sharief’s assertion of 4th war is not “empty” then what made him deny his statement when Mnmohan Singh gave a strong reply. Or was the statement meant only for domestic audience whose nationalistic feelings depend only on anti india rhetoric?