The nation has witnessed a miracle called Marka-E-Haq. It is the miracle of a Pakistan that is fortified unexpectedly, increased strategically, gathered domestic and relocated globally.
On four days in May, Pakistan surpassed and wiped out an enemy an order of magnitude greater in economics, population and conventional arms. Thus, Pakistan sent a superpower manque that rolled back into the rows of middlings and broke out of terrorism as the world has put it in most of the 21st century.
“Pakistan has long been at the receiving end of international skepticism,” write Murtaza Solangi and Ahmed al-Arabi in a new book.
“How many soldiers we bury, or how many children we make, make no difference. No matter how often we warn of Indian adventureism or submit dossiers to the United Nations, we are more often considered guilty until we can prove our innocence.”
Pakistan’s victory was a manifestation of hitherto unexplained national power. The triumph is all the more staggering because it came within an environment of disillusionment with the Pakistani state and obviously invective to Pakistan’s armed forces, especially of a political party that has raised the spectrum of the country’s collapse in 1971 and attacked all institutions in the state and their leaders.
But when it counted, Pakistan’s civil and military leadership came together – especially Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Coas Field Marshal Asim Munir – and the three armed forces met in an unprecedented battlefield. This victorious harmony has confirmed Pakistan’s strategic relationship with China and stunned world.
See Askhøjen to Hindutvas Hubris. At the top are the charred remains of Indian air defense. Under Lie Cinders of Indian Ambitions to: Permanent membership of the UN Security Council, Regional Hegemony, Counseling China, is the “Net security provider” in Indo-Pacific, de-hyphenating from Pakistan and using the Israeli Playbook to force Kashmiris in IIOJK.
If the punishing tariffs imposed and equally punitive rhetoric of India by the Trump administration are any guide, the United States has discovered the ash hill.
A large number of diplomatic debales have followed Hindutva’s military defeat. In direct contradiction to PM Modi’s protests, President Trump has so far taken credit three dozen times for the ceasefire in the Indo-Pak War. The US president has added insult to injuries by using “Mediate”, “Kashmir” and re-hyphenated India and Pakistan-All performances that are inconsistent for India’s bloating self-image of transcending South Asia. India’s diplomatic mission after the war failed, and so did its efforts to prosecute and harm Pakistan’s interests in FATF, IMF, World Bank, SCO and BRICS.
Contours of this rare, positive strategic moment for Pakistan have been considered as a consequence of the prime minister’s delegation sent in June to the UN, Washington, Britain and the European Union. The forces of the delegation were triple.
At first the victory itself was, but the other was that we did not seek any military assistance or budget support from our hosts. The third was and is that Pakistan is seeking peace while India is on its way apparently on an eternal war.
What we saw, heard and felt: Afghanistan fades from public memory in Washington; So is the attached antagonism against Pakistan. Consequently, Capitol Hill was surprisingly positive and susceptible to our concerns. Criticism of Pakistan was muted. A clear gap is visible between the American company, which is still the pro-India, and the White House, which is dramatically less. Pakistan also benefits from India’s retreat from the United Nations.
Islamic countries rediscover Pakistan’s forces. There is widespread empathy with Pakistan at the UN and the EU on the Indus Waters Treaty. The EU is eager to save the rules -based order. There is international respect for and curiosity about Pak-China defense cooperation. And last but not least, President Trump’s repeated praise for Pakistani leadership and hosting lunch for the field marshal brought enormous positivity to Pakistan in Washington.
Still, the question is important: How long does this positivity last? Months, weeks? So much more reason why Pakistan boldly ventured into the international arena. Pakistan’s Monthly House Presidency of UNSC has ended. Pakistan must continue powerful conversations around the world for the restoration of IWT, respect for international treaties and nuclear restraint. Unfortunately, the UN is paralyzed by its inability to stop genocide in Gaza. Pakistan has to enter other arenas to pursue his interests.
A clear message for India must go out, as designated by Emile Simpson: “If you want stability in the world, you need clear strategic boundaries that seek to divide conflicts and not gather them. If you do not box in your conflicts with clear strategic boundaries, chronological, conceptual, geographical and legal, then you experience a prolifation of violence.”
The first task before Pakistan is thus to prepare for the next war by filling the gaps in our defense. The recent increase in the defense budget is welcome, but strengthening our defense will also require a tired analysis of the tooth-to-tail relationship followed by a reckless optimization of resources.
A diplomatic campaign must begin by allocating resources to become the most important spokesman for lower Riparian wandering rights in the world. It is time to aggressively advanced a successor to SAARC with China as a member and without India. PM must continue the diplomatic initiative at the intermediate level by sending smaller delegations to speak regularly with the European Commission and the European Parliament.
A search for countries in North America, Europe, BRICS and Quad is justified. Let us not take friends or enemies as permanent and leverage Pakistan’s newly won salience to reach friends, especially in the golf. Begin a dialogue with environmental and water organizations around the world.
Let’s not forget Lawfare. Building In the Hague Court’s opinion, Pakistan must get an opinion that India’s sets IWT “I Abeyance” from a panel of prominent international lawyers and send talented lawyers to participate in selected international law conferences to create a positive climate of meaning about IWT. An international information campaign with multiple platforms is crucial and immediately needs to feel India as a revisionist, reckless power intended to break international law on Kashmir, IWT and nuclear restraint.
The father is clear and present. We have a ceasefire; We don’t have peace. Embers of Hindutva’s anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan hatred continue to glow. PM Modi and his ministers continue to estimate Pakistan with “eating bread, otherwise my ball is there”; Repeat that the ceasefire is a “break” and that there was no question of returning to IWT.
Hindutva cannot bear shame and will tilt out anger.
After the monsoon has declined in a few weeks, Prime Minister Modi will have the first opportunity to stop waters in the Chenab and the Jhelum rivers, which in turn will trigger the Pakistan National Security Committee’s Pakistan Security Committee: “Any attempt to stop or redirect the flow of water that belongs to Pakistan in accordance with the Indus Waters Treaty, and unsurpation of rights power.”
It is rare for nations to have an opportunity for a strategic reset. After a quarter of a century of internal strife and international suspicion, Maarka-E-Haq has given Pakistan a precious circumstance.
Wrote Shakespeare in “Julius Caesar”: “There is a tide in men’s affairs /as taken at the flood, leads to wealth; /on such a full sea we are now fluid; /and we must take the flow when it serves, /or losing our Ventures”.
It is time for the state to draw the right lessons – domestic and global – from the war and do not fall prey to neither Hubris nor complacency. We need to seize this strategic moment.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and does not necessarily reflect Pakinomist.tv’s editorial policy.
The author has served as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Defense, Trade and Energy. He posts @kdastgirkhan
Originally published in the news
