Muzaffarabad; June 12: China gives a message to India to renounce expansionist agenda: Masood

MUZAFFARABAD, June 12: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that China has given a clear message to India to stay away and renounce its revisionist and expansionist agenda.

“After China’s robust response on Doklam, Sikkim and Ladakh, India caved in because it does not want a repeat of the 1962 war, but its designs vis-a-vis China remain unchanged,” Khan said in an interview with an online news portal and a monthly magazine.

China, the president said does not want India to imperil CPEC passing through Gilgit-Baltistan or attempt to alter the status of Azad Kashmir in any way. So the Pakistan factor in Chinese military and diplomatic posture is evident. There is a careful but understated calibration and alignment. The Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Line of Control (LOC) are part of the same irredentist continuum so far as India is concerned.

About AJK’s position on the disputed Ladakh region boundary Masood Khan said words would be chosen carefully in deference to the Chinese sensitivities and our long-standing relationship, but China’s pressure on India is a decisive factor because it reins in India’s aggression in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and against Pakistan.

He however said that the standoff would not bridle India’s atrocities in IOJK or the rush for colonisation in the territory. That can be stopped only through active resistance by Kashmiris and to a lesser extent by some decisive action by the international community.

When asked how does China India border standoff affect the morale of Kashmiri people, AJK President said hopes of Kashmiris have been raised. They think they are not alone and that China is on their side. That’s true but to an extent. Some engage in a flight of fancy visualising and goading for a two-front attack on India, an opportunity they think was missed in 1962.

Ruling out an all-out war between China and India, the president said, despite their significant differences, both the countries are tamping down tensions. “China, Pakistan and India are all nuclear powers and an active war theatre between them could trigger a global nuclear Armageddon.

When asked to comment on Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s remarks in which Singh warned that this is not the India of 1962, President Khan said Rajnath Singh’s bravado should not be taken seriously. He said that he did not see any difference between today’s India and the India of 1962.

“Yes, it (India) has more arsenals and nuclear power today but has the same hegemonic mind-set with feet of clay,” Masood remarked. The costs of a confrontation for India would be too high, and Modi does not want to be excoriated like Nehru for another discomfiture.

About the US offer to help mediate between India and China, AJK President said there would be no mediation by embattled President Trump. The suggestion was disingenuous because both Washington and Delhi knew that Beijing would not accept the offer.

Replying a question about the possible threat of aggression from India against Pakistan, State President said, yes, there is a high probability of India’s aggression against Pakistan in one form or the other.

“I believe that Pakistan is already under attack and in a state of war with India. An attack on the IOJK is an attack on Pakistan. This is not Indian territory.”

He said that India is decimating potentially Pakistan’s citizens. Indian occupation forces target and kill civilians across the LOC in Azad Kashmir and terrorise 80,000 families now and then. Indian political and military leaders, including their prime minister and army chief, have threatened the use of military force against Pakistan.