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| Re-looking dialogue policy with Pakistan | | DGP Prasad hits nail on the head | | Rustam
JAMMU, Nov 27: J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Prasad had on Tuesday hit the nail on the head and virtually asked New Delhi to refashion its whole foreign policy vis-à-vis aggressive Pakistan, saying the Indian foreign policy is flawed. He made this very important statement during a seminar on national security, organized by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA). The theme of seminar was highly significant and it was "Terror and Trespasses in India's Northern Borders".
DGP Prasad did not mince words. He was candid and made not one but several significant statements indicating his concern over what Pakistan had been doing in the state to harm Indian interests in the region and how the Indian state is dealing with rogue Islamabad. He not only underlined the need to have a re-look on the "dialogue policy with Pakistan over Kashmir as it has not proved fruitful on the ground in the Valley", but also asserted that "Pakistan continues to support secessionism, cross-border terrorism and infiltration and whip up anti-national sentiment in Kashmir". "Despite efforts of India to promote the dialogue process, Pakistan's aggression in the Valley continues and the policy of talks has not been received positively.
There is a need to rethink how to secure the national interests and safety of people," he said, thus exposing and censuring those in Kashmir and New Delhi who had been overlooking the Pakistani sins and advocating the need to engage with Pakistan to resolve the so-called Kashmir issue and harmonize India-Pakistan relations at whatever cost, saying friendly relations with Islamabad were a must in the larger interest of South Asia.
Prasad was so candid that he said in unequivocal terms that "Pakistan has been following the aggressive policy when it comes to its relations with India and we have become tolerant to the level of violence perpetuated by the terrorists trained and supported by the neighbouring country", and added that "the threat from northern borders (Pakistan and China) and relations with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka constitute a long-term challenge for India". He didn't stop just there. He went on to say that "the level of disturbance in the Valley and other parts of the country is determined by external factors", that while "Pakistan follows the policy of offensive defence, China believes in strategic encirclement and territorial aggression" and that "when it comes to relations with other neighbours, India's policy has failed".
Besides, questioning the Indian foreign policy vis-à-vis Pakistan and China and urging New Delhi to prepare itself to face challenge from other neighbouring countries squarely, the DGP also drew attention to the threat being posed by Lashkar-e-Toiba and Al-Qaeda. "It has recently emerged that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Al-Qaeda have announced it would target India and they could use the Indian Mujahideen (IM) terror group to attack strategic targets in India.
This needs a new strategy and aggressive internal and external policy," the J&K DGP said. And later talking to media persons, he pooh-poohed the statement of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin that the "Taliban would not come to Kashmir and their fight was indigenous" and asked: "If it is a purely Kashmiri issue, why are people from Pakistan coming to Kashmir and carrying out terror attacks?"
Now that a person of the rank of DGP of Jammu & Kashmir, who knows how things are unfolding in the sensitive border state, has picked holes in the Indian foreign policy and urged the policy planners in New
Delhi to refashion their whole policy taking into account the paramount interests and the challenges India faces from hostile elements, it would be only desirable if they appreciate his concerns without losing a moment. |
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