Husain Haqqani calls for 'decisive shift' on Kashmir, India "an imaginary threat"

[third eye]

You keep saying "

An online poll isn't indicative of anything, as anyone can vote, which can skew the results. Besides, even if everyone on the planet thinks 2+2=10, that doesn't make it true.

I agree , a poll is not indicative at all. More so if it's results are unpalatable .

 

[Screambowl]

He is right, but Military will not allow that.

 

[MokshaVimukthi]

Here is a link to a page on The Dawn where a poll is underway on this issue

53 % - 1300 votes agree that what he says is right

Two dead as PAF plane crashes near D.I. Khan - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

LOL... most of the voters of Dawn are Indians. Seriously.

 

[That Guy]

LOL... most of the voters of Dawn are Indians. Seriously.

No. While it does have a big Indian following, its mainly liberal Pakistanis.

If this poll was conducted by tribune, we'd get the opposite.

 

[Arya Desa]

Get this guy a box of sweets.

 

[me_itsme]

It is sad people like him do not become the president or PM in Pakistan. If he does Pakistan might surpass India.

 

[Tshering22]

He called India "an imaginary threat" during his lecture, alleging that rhetoric rather than reality is the basis of enmity between the two neighbours, adding:

"Parity with India is not an attainable objective, as quite simply size matters. India's economy is 10 times larger. It is a kind of psychological and political insecurity that has held Pakistan back. The best strategy would be to focus inward."

Glad to see someone has finally opened their eyes in your country.

But we can start this all over again on a good note. This time if your jurnails are realistic, there is no limit to the potential of cooperation and moving towards a more stable region.

The amount of time, energy and money spend on staring each other down can be used to research so many other things.

 

[Turingsage]

Haqqani is pissing in the wind. Pakistan has made terror and proxy wars part of its DNA over 60 years through a well thought out program of creating several generations of Pakistanis fed on fake history and endless conspiracy theorises . It has used terror in neighbouring countries to promote its territorial and murderous lust while at the same time offering to "fight terror" to feed its militaristic engine by offering its mercenary services to the US/EU/NATO/SAUDI/KUWAITI/China and anyone with deep pockets. It plays both ends, creating the terror engine in south/central asia and demanding "free" weapons and money to keep their own terrorists in "check".

Take the unfortunate Afgans born next to neighbours like these rabid dogs.

Words, words, mere words
Pakistan’s Afghan policy remains a throwback to the ‘great game’ and, more recently, the Cold War era, to mark a presumed sphere of influence

• Dr Mohammad Taqi

“Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart:


Th’effect doth operate another way” — Shakespeare.


The perception that the Pakistani security establishment has made an about-turn in its decades-old Afghan policy continues to snowball. The impression being given is that under the new management the old way of harbouring and using the Afghan Taliban to secure Pakistan’s foreign policy objectives in Afghanistan have been dropped. Pakistan is supposed to have persuaded the Afghan Taliban and they will show up in Doha, Qatar shortly, have a series of meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s team and a dua-e-khair (prayers for a favourable outcome) will seal the deal. The Pakistani change of heart is said to have come about after the most tragic attack on the Army Public School (APS), Peshawar by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). It seems that in one go the Pakistani security establishment abandoned prosecuting its foreign policy goals through armed proxies and reached out to President Ghani,pledging to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif is credited for this clean break from the past.


The policy shift illusion, however,is neither new nor really a clean break from the past. I have noted in this column for years that the Pakistani establishment’s game plan has been to outwait the US and international forces in Afghanistan. The idea all along has been to wear both Washington and Kabul down to the point that Pakistan can dictate not only the timing but also the terms of a peace deal for Afghanistan. In 2001-2002,Taliban assets were tactically harboured in safe havens west of the Durand Line in the face of overwhelming US might, only to be re-inductedlater. Former military dictator Pervez Musharraf made a similar ‘clean break’ from the jihadists in his so-called landmark speech in January 2002. Musharraf even nominally banned a slew of jihadist outfits but none were actually decommissioned. He told the world umpteen times that Pakistan was not harbouring the Afghan Taliban only to concede in multiple interviews 13 years later that Pakistan did use the Taliban as proxies. A loudmouth and highly visible Musharraf and the reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar are now the bad cops while the incumbent COAS is about to undo the damage done by the former two.


The former COAS, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, is now the piñata for having delayed an operation in North Waziristan. Like Generals Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and ZiaulHaq, Kayani as an individual is the fall guy despite every indication that he did not veer an inch from the institutional playbook, which strives to secure a seat for the Taliban at the negotiations in Kabul if not the government there. The endgameis playing out exactly as it was supposed to, perhaps even better.The Pakistani objectives and/or possible post-US scenarios in Afghanistan focused on securing a government in Kabul under Pakistan’s tutelage a la the 1996 Taliban regime if possible.Elbowing India out of Afghanistan has been the Pakistani establishment’s objective but perhaps even they could not have thought of getting China in there.


China, replacing — not augmenting — both India and the US’scooperation with Afghanistan is the geopolitical jackpot that Pakistan seems to think it has hit with President Ashraf Ghani’s recent overtures to Beijing and Islamabad. The ‘spectacular’ attacks in Afghan garrison cities and the capital of Kabul stoppedsuddenly. A similar respite in such vicious attacks took place a few years back also when the then Afghan president, Mr Hamid Karzai, was trying to negotiate a deal with Pakistan and is said to have asked what exactly he could do to stop the bloodshed. Apparently, a diplomatic ‘non-paper’ was sent to Mr Karzai stating that if he severed ties with India the lull could be prolonged. Mr Karzai said no thanks to the offer, which according to him trampled upon Afghan sovereignty. Ironically, going forward, Pakistan’s Afghan policy remains a throwback to the ‘great game’ and, more recently, the Cold War era, to mark a presumed sphere of influence. When the Pakistani establishment could not induce Afghanistan in the 1980s to succumb to its aims, it tried to stand on the US’s shoulders to stare the Afghans down. This time around China appears to be emerging as the crutch to salvage a dead policy.


President Ashraf Ghani has invested pretty much all the political capital he has amassed over the past 13 years into securing a deal with Pakistan. While more ‘spectacular’ attacks are on hold, deadly terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan continue almost daily. The first all-Afghan military offensive, named Zulfikar, against the Taliban is underway in Helmand. The former and current Afghan political leaders have already impugned President Ghani’s bending over backwards to accommodate Pakistan’s desires. The Afghan military leadership has remained tightlipped but will inevitably follow suit. The spring equinox, which has for centuries marked Nowruz — literally the Afghan new year — has for the past four decades become synonymous with the start of the fighting season and ensuing bloodshed. Chances are slim to none that the Afghan Taliban will concede anything substantial let alone a ceasefire to President Ghani over the next several months.


With a deal in sight the Taliban will drag their feet while fighting through the summer months.The effect does operate another way where enough time is bought for Pakistan and China to try to lockout India, not just from geopolitics but also the economy of Afghanistan and Central Asia. Being a suave scholar and a sharp economist, President Ghani must already be cognizant of the dialectics that lie ahead but it seems that like President Barack Obama, a cloud of academic vacillation is already forming over his decisions. If the carnagecontinues this summer, President Ghani will face a lot of opposition at home; buying too much into mere words has a steep political price after all.

Words, words, mere words

 

[Stephen Cohen]

If Pakistan follows the same old Anti India policy then the GAP
between India and Pakistan will only get bigger

 

[Rajput_Pakistani]

Why dont Indians listen to progressive voices like Sharmila Bose, Irom Sharmila etc..
Why India is run by extremist VHP and Shiv sena type terror organisations?

 

[SRP]

Why dont Indians listen to progressive voices like Sharmila Bose, Irom Sharmila etc..
Why India is run by extremist VHP and Shiv sena type terror organisations?

Your govt. banned these organisations in your country ?