Shrouded in mystery
The writer served as executive editor of The Express Tribune from 2009 to 2014
It is still a mystery. The events that led Pakistan and India to recommit on February 25, 2021 to the 2003 ceasefire arrangement at the Line of Control (LoC) continue to remain shrouded in opacity. More so, because none of the two has publicly withdrawn her precondition for resumption of bilateral talks. Pakistan had said it didn’t want to talk unless India revoked its August 5, 2019 decision with regard to Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK). And India had declared that it didn’t want to talk unless Pakistan stopped sending terrorists across the LoC.
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Kashmir at a tipping point
For Pakistan, the present time brings some optimism in resolving the Kashmir dispute politically
The writer graduated with an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, where he researched about the Kashmir issue
As Pakistan observed the Kashmir Solidarity Day last month, Kashmiris in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) continue living in unprecedented and appalling conditions. While Kashmiris in the IOK have been a target of barbaric human rights abuses for decades, the revocation of articles 370 and 35(A) in August 2019, by the Hindu fundamentalist BJP party has put the existence of the Kashmiri nation into jeopardy.
India has been operating in Afghanistan and patronising elements in the Afghan army and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other groups that are inimical toward Pakistan
Part-One
“While we all hope for peace it shouldn’t be peace at any cost but peace based on principle, on justice” Corazon C. Aquino
Background
Pakistan and Afghanistan never enjoyed friendly relations since the latter didn’t accept the Durand Line as an international border and laid claims over Pashtun inhabited areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan. Afghanistan has traditionally remained close to India and hostile towards Pakistan. Relations dipped during the rule of President Daud after he seized power in 1973 from King Zahir Shah. Insurgents in Baluchistan were provided safe havens and Pakhtunistan movement was fueled.
When Afghanistan was occupied by Soviet forces in December 1979, and 4 million Afghans became refugees in Pakistan, Pakistan under Gen Ziaul Haq condemned the invasion and decided to support the Afghan resistance forces. The US and Saudi Arabia came in support of Pakistan