Is Imran Khan's government going to take such a big U-turn on Kashmir?

Posted on 13th Jan 2022 by rohit kumar

For the first time, Pakistan has formulated a national security policy. There are reports that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan can release it on Friday.

 

In this national security policy of Pakistan, the talk of peace with India has been emphasized with emphasis. According to the report published in Pakistani media, Pakistan has given the most important to economic security in its national security policy.

 

According to the report of Pakistan's important English newspaper Express Tribune, Pakistan has prepared a policy document for the period from 2022 to 2026.

 

According to the Express Tribune, in this document, without a final solution to Kashmir, it has been said to increase bilateral trade and investment with India. According to Pakistani media, only a few things in this document have come out while the main document has not been made public.

 

According to the Express Tribune, a government official told reporters about the policy document that it is 100 pages. The officer said, "We do not want enmity with India for the next 100 years. The new policy talks of peace with India. It has been advocated to start bilateral trade with India.

 

Relations between India and Pakistan had derailed from August 5, 2019. On this day, the Modi government of India abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

 

In response, Pakistan cut diplomatic relations with India and suspended bilateral trade. In February last year, both countries announced a ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC). Since then, there was hope that both countries are willing to end the tension in the relationship.

 

Express Tribune wrote, "Pakistan seems to be shifting from geo-strategic to geo-economics in the new national security policy. An official said that economic security will be at the heart of Pakistan's national security. Apart from this, in Pakistan's foreign policy, emphasis has been laid on enhancing economic relations and peace with the neighboring country. But the focus on geo-economics does not mean that geostrategic and geopolitical interests will be neglected. The issue of Kashmir with India is an important issue of Pakistan's national policy.

 

The Express Tribune wrote, "The official of the Government of Pakistan has clarified, this does not mean that we have to develop a friendship with the Narendra Modi-led government in New Delhi. This policy document talks about both external and internal security.

 

According to Dunya News, the Prime Minister of Pakistan can make 50 pages of this policy document public on Friday. This part of the policy document is being treated separately from confidentiality.

 

The government can also review this policy. Earlier this month, Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf had said that economic security should be the most important of the country's national security. Moeed had said that this policy document was approved by the Federal Cabinet in December 2021.

 

Well-known Pakistani writer Zahid Hussain wrote an article on Pakistan's national security policy in Dawn on 12 January.

 

Zahid Hussain wrote, "It is very positive progress that the civil and military leadership have agreed to redefine the security of the country. But there is a need to build consensus at the national level in this matter. This will not work only with the approval of Parliament, but the entire document should be publicly debated. This is more the policy of the country than the policy of any government. A weak economy is dependent on foreign aid and this cannot protect the sovereignty of the country.

 

Zahid Hussain wrote, "We can claim to be nuclear-armed and a military power in the region, but instability on the economic and political front will leave us vulnerable."

 

There is also opposition to the matter of fixing relations with India in Pakistan's new national security policy.

 

Abdul Basit, who was Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, tweeted on Wednesday, "Despite the continuing barbarism in Kashmir, Pakistan has talked about the resumption of talks and trade with India in the new national security policy. All I can say about this is that it would be a big mistake.

 

Earlier, Abdul Basit had posted a video on YouTube, and in this, he talked only about Pakistan's new national security policy. Abdul Basit said that the opposition is not ready to accept this policy of the government as it has not spoken to them.

 

Abdul Basit said, "What is such a policy in the world, which the government does not know about the ways to implement it. Fawad Chaudhary said in the TV debate that it is not known about the implementation yet. We make everything up but don't know how to implement it.

 

On the importance of peace and trade relations with India in Pakistan's new national security policy, Zahid Hafeez Chowdhury, former spokesperson of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry and now Pakistan's High Commissioner to Australia, has tweeted, "Everyone in Pakistan's foreign policy. Pakistan's desire for peace from neighboring countries has been there for a long time. However, lasting peace in South Asia depends on the resolution of long-standing disputes.