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India urges Pakistan to review downgrade
New Delhi’s response came a day after Islamabad announced the expulsion of the Indian envoy, suspension of trade, a review of bilateral arrangements, and a move to take the Kashmir issue to the UN.
India on Thursday reiterated that revoking of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status is an “internal affair” and asked Pakistan to review its retaliatory actions, including the downgrading of diplomatic ties and the suspension of bilateral trade.
New Delhi’s response came a day after Islamabad announced the expulsion of the Indian envoy, suspension of trade, a review of bilateral arrangements, and a move to take the Kashmir issue to the UN. India, however, said such measures were intended to “present an alarming picture” of bilateral ties.
As Pakistan continued with its retaliatory actions on Thursday, including the snapping of talks on consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav and stopping the Samjhauta Express cross-border train at the Wagah border, people familiar with developments in New Delhi said India wouldn’t announce any retaliatory measures of its own.
“The Government of India regrets the steps announced by Pakistan yesterday and would urge that country to review them so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved,” said the statement from the external affairs ministry. The reasons cited by Pakistan for its actions were “not supported by facts on the ground”, it added.
Revoking Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution was “entirely the internal affair of India” and aimed at pushing development initiatives to remove disaffection, which had been used by Pakistan to “justify its cross-border terrorism”, the statement said.
The Constitution is a “sovereign matter” and interference in “that jurisdiction by invoking an alarmist vision of the region will never succeed”, the statement said in an apparent reference to remarks by Pakistani leaders, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, that the changes in Kashmir would lead to more terror attacks or even war.
The statement explained the decisions of the Indian government and Parliament were driven by a commitment to extend development opportunities to Kashmir that were “earlier denied by a temporary provision in the Constitution”. The decisions will also help remove gender and socio-economic discrimination and lead to more economic activity and improved livelihood prospects, it said.
“It is not surprising that such developmental initiatives that could address any disaffection in Jammu and Kashmir should be negatively perceived in Pakistan, which has utilised such sentiments to justify its cross-border terrorism,” the statement said.
The statement indicated Pakistan has not formally notified India of all the retaliatory actions it has taken. The people cited above said the decision to expel the Indian envoy was formally conveyed to the Indian side while only a press release was issued on the other matters – an indication of the breakdown in formal contacts.
“Whatever had to be done is done. The government doesn’t intend to react to the Pakistani actions in any way,” said a person who didn’t want to be identified.
“Actions such as Pakistan’s planned protest on India’s Independence Day are nothing new, they’ve also done such things in the past,” the person added.
The people said Pakistan would find itself at a disadvantage if it went ahead with the measures it had announced on Wednesday. Trade with Pakistan constitutes only 0.3% of India’s overall trade and a review of bilateral arrangements and treaties wasn’t something that could be done overnight, the people said.
India’s focus, the people added, would be on effectively managing the security situation and thwarting any possible effort by the Pakistani security establishment to foment fresh unrest in Kashmir or push in terrorists through the Line of Control.
Barring expressions of support from the leaders of Malaysia and Turkey, the world community has not backed Pakistan’s stance on the developments in Kashmir. The US has underlined the need for dialogue to reduce tensions and avoid the potential for military conflict while some nations have expressed concern at the detention of political leaders and snapping of communications in Kashmir.
Rajiv Dogra, a former diplomat who served in Pakistan, placed Pakistan’s actions in the context of its domestic politics. “Imran Khan isn’t the most successful Prime Minister and army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa is at the end of his term and hanging in there,” he said.
“Pakistan always referred to Kashmir as its jugular vein, and suddenly the vein has been cut. Unlike Nawaz Sharif or Asif Ali Zardari, who would have gone to the masses with this issue, Imran Khan hasn’t even been comfortable facing parliament. This has been a big blow and they don’t know how to react,” he added.
India’s response to Pakistan’s moves has been “mature without any chest thumping”, and the response should continue to be “measured and well thought out because we don’t know the path ahead”, Dogra said.
