India is hosting the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa today, May 4, and tomorrow, May 5. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the foreign minister of Pakistan, is also present for the SCO gathering. Dr S. Jaishankar has rejected the possibility of a discussion taking place outside of the SCO summit, even though he and Bhutto will be in the same room during the meeting. However, Bhutto has also stated that she has no interest in speaking with Dr S. Jaishankar. But with this chance, Pakistan’s well-wishers are showing up to help the Ministry of External Affairs make the most of the circumstances. On NDTV, Sudheendra Kulkarni wrote an opinion piece urging a meeting between Pakistan and India. Abdul Basit, a former Pakistani ambassador, released his opinion piece in which he stated that India and Pakistan urgently need to meet in person in Goa. Pakistan should not comply because “breaking the ice” is a charade that will only erode Pakistan’s firm stance on Kashmir. India needs to reflect on its life. More of the same won’t get results. Others were celebrating the op-ed for essentially putting India in its place for refusing to talk to a terrorist nation like Pakistan, while some, like Abdul Basit, used it to humiliate India and hold it responsible for the terrorist acts committed by Pakistan.
The opening line of Kulkarni’s opinion piece was, “Neighbours should never stop talking.” He recalled Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s adage that you may change your friends but not your neighbours and reminded the current administration of this. He discussed conversations taking place on several levels between the two bordering nations. He expressed shock at how chilly the interactions have become. Intriguingly, he pointed out that even a handshake between Dr S. Jaishankar and his counterpart from Pakistan would be a significant event for the SCO summit. Bhutto’s statement, which stated that Pakistan “continues to commit to the SCO charter and process along with the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” did not sit well with Kulkarni. He was horrified to read the remark that implied the SCO charter forbade bilateral meetings between two members on the fringes of the SCO meeting. He disagreed with Dr S. Jaishankar’s emphatic statement that “it is very difficult for us to engage with a neighbour who practises cross-border terrorism against us” at the same time.
Let’s share some firsthand knowledge. The neighbour before me was a mess. Every other day, they dumped trash and dead rats in my front yard. It continued despite my requests for my former landlord to step in because they were family. I dealt with a variety of issues from the neighbours up until the very end. I made an effort to communicate with them calmly, but I was unsuccessful. Things improved once I stopped conversing with or amusing them. While we cannot change our neighbours, we can at least choose to ignore them on all fronts to maintain our peace of mind.
While Pakistan’s focus on the Kashmir issue does not benefit the economically struggling nation, according to Kulkarni, the claims regarding Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are “no less impractical”. “The assertions by top government officials that India will not stop until it reclaims the lost territories of J&K are as implausible as many Pakistani politicians’ predictions that the Indian side of Kashmir would eventually either become independent or merge with Pakistan,” he said. India will never be able to take Aksai Chin and PoK from China and Pakistan, respectively. The LoC and LAC are now unchangeable.
Kulkarni blatantly displayed no confidence in the nation’s leadership or military prowess. Recall that it is false to equate Pakistan’s and India’s claims on Kashmir and the disputed territory of PoK. Kulkarni could be reminded of Maharaja Hari Singh signing the Instrument of Accession at Jammu’s Amar Palace on October 26 and Lord Mountbatten accepting it on October 27. Kulkarni neglects to address the strategic significance of the Pakistan-occupied territory when he advises India to abandon its claim to the region known as PoK. PoK is of great strategic significance due to its position. It shares borders with several nations, including Pakistan’s Punjab and North-West Frontier Province (now known as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) to the west, Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor to the north-west, the People’s Republic of China’s Xinjiang province to the north, and India’s Jammu and Kashmir to the east.
The fact that supporting Islamic extremism and terrorism in Kashmir and elsewhere has backfired on the neighbouring nation, with Pakistan itself occasionally the target of terrorist attacks, is one thing Kulkarni did get right. However, he criticised the Indian government for using terrorism supported by Pakistan to close all channels of communication. Kulkarni questioned India’s position of refusing to speak with Pakistan. He used India’s communication with China as an example, even after the Galwan conflict. He compared it to the crisis between India and Pakistan and questioned why Dr S. Jaishankar and Bhutto couldn’t have a private meeting in Goa. Kulkarni seems to have overlooked the fact that Pakistan continues to send terrorists to India. The cease-fire is not observed. Pakistan has been supplying Punjab with guns and drugs in addition to Kashmir. Punjab has become a delicate border state as a result of it fueling the Khalistan cause to the point where Amritpal Singh and other leaders are now proliferating.
Kulkarni added that there were three “undeniable gains” from holding negotiations with Pakistan. He contrasted India’s commerce with China, which was valued at USD 136 billion and included over USD 100 billion in imports, with trade with Pakistan, which was valued at just USD 400 million. He disregarded the reality that China produces a large number of the goods used in India. Except for terrorism, Pakistan hardly ever manufactures anything. Sports equipment, pink salt, Multani clay, and a few more items are among the country’s few imports.
Pakistan is the sole country benefiting from Indo-Pak commerce due to Pakistan’s poor manufacturing capacity and deteriorating economic situation, which prevents the nation from even providing enough electricity to its industries. Keep in mind that Pakistan cannot even feed its citizens. Prices for everything have skyrocketed, from flour to tomatoes. In his second “gain,” he detailed how India’s steadfast refusal to speak to Pakistan as long as its neighbour continues to support terrorism has hurt SAARC, which is working to the advantage of the SCO, a Chinese project. The most recent SAARC gathering was held in Nepal in 2014. Pakistan was intended to host the following gathering. However, it never happened because India declined to travel to Pakistan for the meeting. Kulkarni conveniently omitted the reality that India had purposefully placed Pakistan in a position where no one was listening by encircling it on several platforms.
It would be appropriate to remind Kulkarni right now of the reasons the SAARC Summit was not held in Pakistan in 2016. The Uri attack was the reason. Not only did India withdraw from the 19th SAARC Summit, but also Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. The summit was supposed to take place in Islamabad from November 15 to November 16, 2016. The SAARC Summit was postponed as a result of Pakistan’s actions. It is not appropriate to place the blame for the disaster on India. Not to mention, in 2016 op-ed for The Quint, Kulkarni gushed over Pakistan’s “love” for Bollywood and said that it was absurd to prevent Pakistani performers from appearing in Indian films. It was interesting to note that he recalled a conversation he had with someone in Lahore about how the Indian entertainment business was “propagating Hindu culture” in Pakistan. Because your films are introducing Muslims in this country to Hindu culture, the guy said to Kulkarni. Your films feature devi-devatas. They promote anti-Islamic Hindu social practices. Nevertheless, he sided with Pakistan and criticised the Indian government for becoming a “soft power” in his op-ed on February 16 for doing so.
Thirdly, Kulkarni asserted that peace in Afghanistan can be achieved if Pakistan and India cooperate. Doesn’t Afghanistan give a good chance for our two countries to collaborate for regional peace, security, and development, he asked in his letter. The unavoidable fact is that neither Pakistan nor India will be able to prevent the other from entering Afghanistan, and neither country would undervalue Pakistan’s contribution to Afghanistan’s future stability. Therefore, rather than engaging in violent conflict in Kabul and suffering significant losses as a result, our two nations should devise a convergent plan to help both our common civilisational neighbour and ourselves.
Did Kulkarni completely forget that after the troops left, there were reports that the American-leftover weapons and ammunition were moved to Pakistan? Did he not remember that Pakistan had for days blocked Indian aid trucks from reaching Afghanistan? Did he forget that Pakistan has been accused by Afghanistan of undermining the country’s stability?
Sudheendra Kulkarni wants to use rhetoric, lies, and misrepresentations to support a narrative that would have India loosen its guard against a country that sponsors terrorism like Pakistan. However, India must reject these overtures because it is one of the main targets of Pakistan’s radical Islamism and its state policy of terrorism.
Then Kulkarni said that India has to demonstrate to Pakistan that it is more significant to us than Israel. How gullible can one be? Israel is one of India’s closest allies. Israel has demonstrated its value to India time and time again, from assisting with security to standing strong in the face of overwhelming odds. The same is true of supporting Israel in several areas. India has helped Israel in every manner that it can. Kulkarni wants Dr S. Jaishankar to take Bhutto for a stroll on a Goa beach in the same manner that PM Modi did with Benjamin Netanyahu back when Israel was still in power. Bhutto could use a walk and some weight loss, but it does not mean India needs to take action.
Around 15,000 Goans were living in Karachi in the 1950s, according to Kulkarni. He suggested that something along such lines be constructed by Pakistan and India. There are 6,000 Goans in Karachi, the Tribune Pakistan reported in a story from 2022. Where did 9,000 Goans go, Mr Kulkarni? Did you make an effort to learn? Instead of dabbling in international matters, perhaps Kulkarni could focus on selecting a single candidate to unseat PM Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as he stated in a news conference in June 2022.
When Sudheendra Kulkarni appeared on Chinese official media in 2020, he repeated the Chinese stance and disparaged India. He said that China is not a hostile power and downplayed Chinese aggression. China is not a ‘hostile’ force, according to Sudheendra Kulkarni, who made this startling declaration. Then, to strike a balance, he asserted that India is also not a hostile country. According to estimates, China has engaged in territorial disputes with more than a dozen nations. China continues to violate the territorial rights of the countries bordering the South China Sea despite the International Court of Justice having rejected its dubious claims. China has occupied Tibet and portions of Mongolia and frequently asserts sovereignty over territories in Bhutan, India, Japan, and even Russia.
The communist-run nation has asserted fishing rights in waters close to Indonesian islands. In addition, China has been in conflict with Thailand over the Mekong River since 2001, as well as with Laos, Cambodia, and Laos over “historical precedents.” Regarding the Senkaku and Ryu Kya islands, China and Japan are at odds. Additionally, the imperialist nation has occasionally claimed to be South Korea as a whole. Additionally, there are disagreements between the communist-run nation and North Korea regarding Mount Pek-tu and the Tuman River. China was said to have taken control of the Rui village in Nepal’s Gorkha district earlier. In the middle of the border impasse at the Line of Actual Control, Kulkarni even exhorts Indians towards the end of the film to take inspiration from China’s accomplishments.
It should be noted that Kulkarni has long supported China. Concerns regarding the CPEC were raised when the Modi government officially avoided the Belt and Road Forum that China hosted in Beijing in 2017 to promote the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) plan. Kulkarni, however, had been present and had even lambasted the Modi administration there in front of Chinese and Indian media. Kulkarni had said, “Whoever advised the PM, has given a piece of very, very bad advice.”
Well, Mr Kulkarni needs to know that Dr Jaishankar knows what he has to do and does not need lessons from Chinese salesmen.
