Infiltration Could Be Part of Pakistan Agenda to Undermine Indian Leadership: Experts
Both India and Pakistan are about to stage their national elections and as they prepare for this busy time, Sputnik India examines whether attempts at infiltration are linked to the forthcoming polls.
SputnikThe attempts at infiltration taking place on the Line of Control (LoC), the de-facto border dividing India and Pakistan, could be part of a Pakistani plan to undermine India’s political leadership, two strategic affairs experts have suggested.
The views of Major (Ret'd) Mohommed Ali Shah, and Dr. Priyanka Singh, an expert on the subject of Pakistan and associated with India's foremost think-tank, the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis (MP-IDSA), came several days after five marauding terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba* were killed by Indian security forces along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.
'Pakistan is a Specialist in International Terrorism'
Asked if there was any connection between the spike in attempts to infiltrate India and Pakistan's imminent national assembly elections, Major (Retd) Mohommed Ali Shah said that “when it comes to Pakistan,
anything is possible".
Calling Pakistan "a specialist in international terrorism", the military expert added: "All have seen Pakistan in a very bad state. We have seen that their economy is completely flattened. Recently, there was almost a civil war in Pakistan."
He remarked that if Pakistani authorities concentrated on their
own internal affairs, things might be better there.
The expert felt that Pakistan seems so busy "trying to peep through the neighbor’s window [to know what’s happening in India]" that it has ignored its own internal problems.
He said that Pakistanis persist in “making unsuccessful attempts [to infiltrate India] despite having failed so often”.
Pakistan Jealous About India's G20 Success
Asked whether the terrorist activities are designed to undermine the Indian leadership ahead of forthcoming polls at state of national levels in India, the military expert said: “Of course. That could also be part of [the Pakistani] agenda.”
He cited India’s success at organising the initial G20 tourism working group meeting in Srinagar "…with people coming from more than 60 countries. It must have made [Pakistan] jealous to think that such a thing could never take place [in Kashmir]."
He said “Pakistan remains upset largely because of [India's] success” rather than because of its own native problems.
"So, regarding your query whether infiltration could be a bid to influence Indian polls, I say, 'Yeah that possibility cannot be ruled out'. I am saying that [infiltration as an attempt to influence Indian polls] could be a possibility,” he added.
What Prompts Such Brazenness From The Pakistani Side
According to Dr Priyanka Singh, Associate Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (MP-IDSA), the cause behind the infiltrations and the possible threats they could pose need to be assessed.
The geopolitical expert said one needed first to examine whether the infiltration bids were caused because, although Nawaz Sharif recently hinted that he wanted to have warm relations with India, the Pakistani military intends to convey a different message.
“It is a folklore that
whenever civilian governments have shown an eagerness for engaging with India, the so-called non-state anti-India constituencies have augmented infiltration attempts or carried out attacks inside Jammu and Kashmir.”
Pakistan's Declining Relevance in International Considerations
Singh felt that India is at present sitting in a geopolitical comfort zone thanks to its successful stint as president of the G20 and its deft handling of the global complexities involving the Russia-Ukraine Conflict.
In contrast,
Pakistan's relevance - be it in India's national discourse or its international calculus - has clearly declined, she said.
“Therefore, how far or whether at all, the infiltration bids or Pakistan's other attempts to rupture peace in Jammu and Kashmir will affect the course of forthcoming elections in India, remains to be seen.”
*A proscribed terrorist organisation