Drawing a blank to counter the rampaging political economic crisis in Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif predictably tried to distract the restive domestic and indifferent global audience over fears of nuclear war with India over Kashmir. In an interview to Al Arabiya TV channel, Shehbaz Sharif sought UAE’s mediation for getting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the so-called “burning” issue of Kashmir with him in what he called a sincere and honest manner. Simply put, Sharif said that India should hand over Kashmir Valley to Pakistan as part of the two-nation theory or else there was a possibility of nuclear war between the two countries.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has made it amply clear that dialogue with Pakistan could only take place once jihadist terror is put out of bilateral equation. However, the European powers talk only about the possibility of nuclear war between India and Pakistan while ignoring the terror threat to India from Rawalpindi GHQ. Going by the past statements of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders, it is quite evident that Pakistani politicians across the spectrum have a visceral hatred for India and are envious of the neighbour to the east.
Although Pak PM has asked UAE rulers to facilitate the dialogue with India, the fact is that the word Kashmir was not even recorded in the bilateral statement released during Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Dubai seeking much-needed US dollars for daily survival. Fact is that UAE is a very close ally of India with the political leadership on both sides in constant touch with each other on religious terror and radicalization. With the Taliban government in Afghanistan engaged with Pakistan over the festering Durand Line issue, the Pakistan Army cannot afford to open fronts on both sides of the border. Kashmir has been reduced to a talking point in Pakistan’s diplomatic lexicon.
