Biden Playing ‘Pakistan Card’ Against India — Indian Army Veteran
© AP Photo / Anjum Naveed
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For months, the US administration led by President Joe Biden has tried to pressurize India to part ways with its time-tested friend Russia. But so far, New Delhi has rebuffed such overtures.
America's reported signing of a defense pact with Pakistan is a US tactic markedly to get back at India for not towing its line on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a military veteran has said.
The comments of Jasinder Singh Sodhi, a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army, come amid reports in the neighboring country's media that the Shehbaz Sharif government has given its nod for inking the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement with the US.
The comments of Jasinder Singh Sodhi, a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army, come amid reports in the neighboring country's media that the Shehbaz Sharif government has given its nod for inking the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement with the US.
Additionally, the agreement between the US and Pakistan focuses on conducting joint military exercises, combat training, allowing access to naval and army bases, and sale of defense equipment to Islamabad.
The timing of the deal is significant, considering it comes only a month-and-a-half after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US where he was accorded a warm welcome by the White House.
Sodhi told Sputnik India on Tuesday there was no doubt that internally the US was angry with India because New Delhi has not toed the line that Washington wanted on the Ukraine issue.
India's Strategic Autonomy Did Not Go Down Well With America
According to him, be it India's continuing imports of crude oil from Moscow, be it the extension of its defense deals with the Eurasian nation, or giving Russia the respect of a true friend, there's not an iota of doubt that New Delhi's actions have not gone down well with the Americans.
"Moreover, by deciding to have military exercises with Pakistan's armed forces, knowing fully well that the Islamic nation is an enemy of India, it clearly sends a signal that Washington is trying to get back at New Delhi, for not towing its line of speaking against Russia on the ongoing Moscow-Kiev conflict," Sodhi stated.
To better understand the US tactics toward India, the defense expert took everyone back in history.
He underlined that six years after independence, in 1953, Pakistan expressed a desire to resolve the Kashmir dispute with India as the neighboring country was financially broke at the time.
As a result, the Indian Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru traveled to Lahore and met his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Ali Bogra.
US Did Not Allow the Kashmir Dispute to Get Resolved
However, Sodhi claimed that the US did not allow this dispute to be resolved because America sensed a great business opportunity for its arms industry in case there was strife between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
"As a result of which the meeting between Nehru and Bogra collapsed and the Kashmir dispute never got resolved to date," he added.
India’s Border Security Force (BSF)
© AP Photo / Channi Anand
As per Sodhi, from 1953 onwards, the US started pumping billions of dollars into Pakistan, by way of giving them financial aid, as well as the latest defense equipment.
Consequently, in the 1960s, the economy of Pakistan became better than the economy of India because of the financial support it got from the US. At that time, the per capita income of Pakistan was $83.3 while the per capita income of India was a little less at $82.2.
Coming back to the present scenario, the same thing is being replayed, Sodhi suggested as Washington has reportedly signed this important deal with Islamabad.
"Incidentally, a similar deal was inked with New Delhi in 2018. Once again, America is playing the card of 1953 where tensions will now rise between India and Pakistan," Sodhi remarked.
America's Main Focus is Selling Weapons
Of the 10 biggest arms manufacturers in the world, six are located in the United States, and the former Indian Army officer believes that America leaves no stone unturned to provide weapons to any nation where it senses a business opportunity.
Sodhi pointed out that since 1945 when the Second World War ended, Washington has directly or indirectly taken part in 105 wars/conflicts by way of either providing financial aid or defense equipment.
This could be best understood through Ukraine's example, where America doesn't have boots on the ground, but has sent nearly all forms of military equipment, including the Patriot surface-to-air missile system, tanks, artillery guns, fighter planes, etc.
That's why, Sodhi opined that whenever there is a problem in any part of the planet, the Americans are generally there in one form or the other because of their large arms industry.
American Help Would Embolden Pakistan
He noted that the same thing was being followed now by signing this treaty with Pakistan. It ensures that for the next 15 years, Pakistan will get the latest arms that it requires from the US.
"As Islamabad starts getting more weapons systems from Washington, the morale of the Pakistan armed forces will increase and we have seen in history, whenever the Americans have given such financial aid or military equipment to India's neighboring country has got emboldened and it has always created more trouble for New Delhi. Therefore, the implications of this deal are very serious for India," Sodhi explained.
He commented that the US doesn't get bothered much about irking India because for Washington the only interest is the commercial benefits. In signing the defense pact with Islamabad, it has sensed a great business opportunity in Pakistan and hence, America has gone for this deal.
Quoting another instance from history, Sodhi referred to the times when the erstwhile USSR was a superpower.
"We all remember when the Soviet Union was a superpower, and the US was getting threatened due to its growing influence in the world, it forged an alliance with China," the military pundit said.
The US is Using India as a Pawn Against China
He specified that in 1972, then US President Richard Nixon visited Beijing and remarked that this one week will change the world because, at that point in time, the Americans wanted to downplay the USSR by forging a strong partnership with China.
Sodhi emphasized that the same thing is happening now, where China has become America's enemy number one. That's why, the White House is giving a lot of support to Delhi, in the hope that Beijing will be counter-checked like the Soviet Union was counter-checked by establishing an alliance with India.
"For the US, its own domestic interests are always paramount. Any other country, going through an economic slumber or facing terrorism or poverty, it doesn't matter to them as long as the commercial interests of the Americans are taken care of," he summed up.
