Does Pakistan really have snakes in their backyard?
Often Pakistan generates 2 types of interest in the globe. There is an intense rivalry between India and Pakistan in sports which comes with a great level of respect and friendship. The other interest is at a diplomatic level where India and Pakistan are always at each other’s throats to have the one upmanship. Back when Hillary Clinton had visited Pakistan, she had mentioned that having snakes in your backyard will result in venom being spread out not only to the neighbors but will also spell doom for its own home. This was a clear indication that the long-standing terrorism in Pakistan will ultimately affect the country itself as well. Terrorism can be sources from different areas like Afghanistan, Pakistan or even within India but the harbingers and supporters of terrorism primarily lie in Pakistan, and this is a fact which is well known across the world (apart from China !!!)
Recently, at the UN security council, while chairing the Global Counter-terrorism Approach, Minister of External Affairs for India S. Jaishankar was asked by a Pakistani journalist on how soon South Asia will see end of terror which resulted in a retort from him pointing to Pakistan ministers to indicate when terrorism can end. This was a clear vindication of Pakistan being a major source of terrorism. This was followed by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto claiming India to house a PM who is known for causing terrorism in Gujarat while Pakistan eliminated Osama Bin Laden. This ensued a war of words, but the main point in question is whether Pakistan really has snakes in their own backyard and what is the world doing about it?
1. The House for Osama: To be fair to Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden was killed on their land, but they are guilty of housing him for several years and were even involved in hideous activities to ensure that the special task force from US Army were not able to guess his location by constantly moving him across cities before settling down in Abbottabad.
2. Shelter for the most wanted: Pakistan is still known to house wanted terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Lakhvi accounting for over 127 UN designated terrorists. They may not be causing chaos in Pakistan, but they end up causing mayhem across other countries while operating out of Pakistan.
3. Pakistan Army: A country’s army is supposed to protect the nation against enemies of any sorts. Pakistan Army does exactly the opposite by aiding terrorists to carry out dubious activities within Pakistan and act as a diversion for India to allow terrorists to enter India and carry out tasks. The monetary benefit coming out of supporting the terrorists is very tough to resist for the Pakistan Army. It is a grave statement to make but having terrorists and Pakistan Army by your side is the means of survival in Pakistan.
4. Sustenance for the government: While Pakistan is a democracy just like India, it is operated by Pakistan Army at the backend who, in turn work hand in hand with terrorists. This results in the snakes having a very important role in the functioning of the country and how they maintain relations with the neighboring countries.
Without a doubt, Pakistan has snakes in their backyard, but they are yet to spread a lot of venom in their land, but it is a matter of time when the venom spreads within the nation as well. Pakistan often gets the support of China and has regular military aid from US which is misused by getting into the hands of the terrorists. While it is difficult to eliminate the snakes, the public outcry, and diplomatic battles at global forums like United Nations, SAARC can go a long way in putting pressure on Pakistan to remove the snakes and also make other nations abreast of the contentious situation that is present in Pakistan and not actioned upon till now.
The verbal battles between diplomats are going to be never ending, but realization of the wrong doings by diplomacy is very important to establish harmony and bring the terrorists down on their knees. Each one of us strives for a mix of India and Pakistan culture and would love to see our cricket teams play more regularly. Let the diplomatic retorts continue and soon the snakes will head back into their burrows and not come out with the passage of time instead of causing havoc in different backyards.
