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Pakistan's diplomatic offensive against India continues in Korea. After Pakistan Ambassador Zahid Khan's provocative article, now Muhammad Chaudry in his latest Korea Times article argues that Pakistan is a more globally-engaged country than India. As I already replied to Khan in my first October article, this time I'm taking Chaudry's arguments one by one.
The writer argues that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit couldn't take place just because of India's non-cooperating behavior. However, he missed out on the fact that India is not the only country which refused to participate but other South Asia states such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bhutan also refused to go to Islamabad for the conference. This demonstrates Pakistan's total isolation in South Asia.
Furthermore, Pakistan should realize that it is on the verge of becoming the "next North Korea" in terms of international isolation. We all know that no country wants to play cricket in Pakistan. Also, in this age of globalization, peaceful countries, like India, are busy hosting a large a number of heads of state while Pakistan is witnessing nothing but a sharp decline of such high-level visits. This is a clear indication of Pakistan's total isolation from rest of the world.
The writer, just like his government, feels that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a symbol of Pakistan's success and asked India to follow suit. However, they forget that this corridor is to be constructed by the other country, China, and that it is a result of Pakistan's acceptance to become China's "subordinate state." On the contrary, India is itself sponsoring a number of such international projects, like the India–Myanmar–Thailand (IMT) trilateral highway and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor and investing a huge sum of money to support various ongoing economic projects in Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Additionally, whereas Islamabad is struggling to make allies, New Delhi has emerged as the most acceptable nation with the establishment of the highest number of trade pacts and strategic partnerships with regional countries. Moreover, India is part of all the top summit-level multilateral organizations in the region, including G20, BRICSs, East Asia Summit (EAS) whereas Pakistan is completely isolated from these organizations. These realities underscore that there is no comparison between India and Pakistan in terms of international acceptability.
Following the Pakistan government's stance, the writer also urged the international community to take notice of India's brutal behavior in Kashmir. However, he forgets that the same international community is suffering from the "Pakistan-sponsored global terrorism." The rise of terrorism in Europe, America and Asia and its connection with Pakistan has become a major concern for the international community. As Daniel Byman, in his Cambridge university-published book, argues, "Pakistan is probably today's most active sponsor of terrorism."
Pakistan should also not worry about the human rights issue in Kashmir ― an Indian Territory. Rather, it should be more concerned about the ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan, where the Pakistan military is brutally suppressing dissenting voices.
Last but not least, after the partition India opted for democracy, socio-cultural pluralism and secularism, while Pakistan opted for frequent military dictatorships and religious fundamentalism. Hence, it is a time for Pakistan to learn from India and become a responsible state.
Rajiv Kumar, Ph.D., is a Seoul-based scholar. He's at mailrajivsingh@gmail.com.
