One of China’s objectives behind the project is to get access to the sea route off Gwadar port, which it also build for Pakistan.
Advertisement
He said the indifference shown by worldwide community in this respect is worrying. A Taliban faction and Islamic State both claimed responsibility. The release said the Baloch leaders hope that the U.S. and Europe will join Modi in holding Pakistan accountable for the crimes against humanity and the war crimes, including ethnic “cleansing and genocide”, it has committed in the region for the past 68 years.
“In fact, the economic corridor, linking northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Gwadar Port in southwestern Pakistan, does not target any third party, India included. The time has come when Pakistan shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against people in Baluchistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”, Modi said on August 12.
The mention of Balochistan was particularly provocative.
More than 68,000 people have been killed since rebel groups began fighting Indian forces in 1989 and in a subsequent Indian military crackdown.
Modi’s comments prove Pakistan’s contention that Indian intelligence agencies are “fomenting terrorism in Balochistan”, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, while reacting to Modi’s Independence Day speech, said the Premier was only trying to divert world attention from the “grim tragedy” that has been unfolding in Kashmir over the past five weeks. Pakistan in a recent statement had said the country would play the role of a “good host”. Pakistan occupied Kashmir is an integral part of India.
Modi’s remarks tap into historic grievances in a sensitive and contested part of Asia.
“Balochistan is not a controversial area like Kashmir”, he declared.
Indian and Pakistani armies fought over Kashmir and settled into a stalemate with a de-facto border along the so-called Line of Control.
He added: “It is not the first time the provincial government is pointing out the subversive activities of RAW in Balochistan, leaders of the previous provincial and the federal government have also repeatedly exposed the agency’s role at various national and worldwide forums with irrefutable evidence”.
Advertisement
The current uprising in IHK has added further strains to the troubled Pakistan-India relationship. So, does it mean that the Prime Minister is willing to sacrifice Kashmir for Balochistan’s freedom? Modi has neatly lobbed the ball into Pakistan’s court and forced them to deal with a completely new scenario in which New Delhi too will not hesitate to call a spade a spade.
