Headlines
Pakistan's growing irrelevance result of events in 1999: Daily
Islamabad, March 4
Certain events in 1999,
such as the Pakistan Army bypassing the civilian government to launch a
war on India, has had immense consequences for the India-Pakistan
relationship and have worked to make Pakistan progressively irrelevant
in the international community, said an article in the Daily Times
Wednesday.
“In the context of Pakistan-India relations, the year
1999 can be called one of the most significant years of the post-Cold
War phase starting in 1991,†wrote columnist Qaisar Rashid in an opinion
piece.
He pointed out that the end of the Kargil war “suggested
that India could persuade or coerce the US to intervene in (a) regional
conflict (replete with nuclear repercussions) and rein in its (US) ally,
Pakistan, which had to eventually withdraw its forces from Kargilâ€.
The Kargil conflict and its eventual settlement established the US as a new force in the region, Rashid wrote.
He noted that following the conflict, India and the US cosied up to each other at the cost of their relationships with Pakistan.
The
US and India have gone so far on the alliance journey that Pakistan was
fast becoming irrelevant, according to Rashid, who added, “Currently,
the balance in the region -- South Asia -- is tipped more towards
India.â€
“The occurrence of events successively not only
underlined the reality of civil-military conflict in Pakistan, but also
underscored the reality of persistent bilateral animosity prevailing
between Pakistan and India,†Rashid said.
However, according to
him, what really hurt Pakistan was a lack of realisation that it was
fast losing in 1999. “Pakistan lost its credibility in the eyes of both
India and the US.â€
The article, however, noted that the peace
initiative undertaken by then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, when he travelled to Pakistan in the Lahore-Delhi "dosti" bus
in 1999, tried to “clear the air of misgiving that has existed between
both countries since 1947â€.
He signed the Lahore Declaration with
Pakistan and his meeting with the Pakistani leadership was an effort to
establish civilian-to-civilian contact between the two countries,
according to Rashid.
However, the loss to Pakistan following the
events in 1999, “can be gauged if Pakistan tries to answer the following
questions: first, can Pakistan invite now incumbent (Indian) PM
Narendra Modi through a friendly bus service (or even by air) to sign
another Lahore Declaration? The answer is in the negative... Second, can
Pakistan launch another Kargil war to accentuate the Kashmir issue? The
answer is in the negative. Even China does not approve of that. Any
such adventure will invite severe international reaction", the article
said.
Rashid pointed out that Pakistan was now seeking Russian
help, which, according to him, was "the first expression of the
realisation of our loss".
"Today, India knows that Pakistan
cannot dictate directly its terms of engagement and disengagement...
Today, China is also asking Pakistan to improve its bilateral ties with
India," the article noted.