Pakistan’s foreign minister, SM Qureshi, recently wrote to the United Nation, not for the first time, accusing India of imposing a security blanket in the Kashmir valley along with a communications lockdown. He also accused India of ceasefire violations and of targeting civilians. He ignored the fact that it is Pakistan’s export of terrorism and fake messages, which compels India to continue with an internet ban and adopt a strong counter-infiltration posture including responding to ceasefire violations.

Pakistan foreign office spokesperson, Dr Mohammad Faisal, had stated at a press conference a few days ago that Pakistan had ‘exclusive rights’ over three Indian Western rivers adding that any attempt by India to divert flow of these rivers would be considered an ‘act of aggression’. Pakistan remains fearful that India may abrogate the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in case of hostilities or if in its view Pakistan’s misbehaviour becomes pronounced. Pakistan has always desired Kashmir for its water resources, rather than affinity with the population. Any such act by India could impact Pakistan’s economy and population, hence it considers these actions as hostile.

It is however hypocritical that simultaneously, Pakistan pushes in terrorists and instructs them to target non-Kashmiris and burn apple trucks to damage the local economy. Imran Khan has been speaking on Kashmir as if it was always a part of Pakistan, ignoring history and reality. His tweets on Kashmir only seem to project that the region is under siege. He has been demanding plebiscite and mediation, perhaps unaware that it was Pakistan that failed to initially implement the plebiscite, as also that no international organisation or nation has any role in the matter after the Shimla agreement and Lahore declaration. Imran claims to support Kashmir as it is a Muslim majority region.

At the same time, he ignores the Chinese treatment of Uighurs, another Muslim majority region, where religion has been suppressed and Muslims forced to act against their faith. Even the release of a 400-page document proving Chinese actions elicited no response. Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper stated on 20 November in an editorial, “Like many other countries, Pakistan too has a spotty human rights record, but when it can speak out against the human rights violations of the Kashmiris and the Rohingya, can it stay silent about the Uighurs?” Pakistan criticises the EU for growing cases of Islamophobia. The ruling PTI’s spokesperson stated on Sunday: “Such hate-inspired actions are contrary to the EU human rights convention and the European human rights court’s decisions on the issue of limitations on freedom of expression in relation to attacks on Muslims and Islam.”

Simultaneously, it ignores Chinese actions on Muslims while signing a letter supporting China. Imran accuses the world of ignoring Kashmir as nations desire closer economic ties with India. He does the same as he ignores Chinese handling of Uighurs as Beijing bankrolls the CPEC and provides Pakistan with diplomatic and military support. When questioned on China he feigns ignorance, while he claims complete knowledge on Kashmir. This is hypocritical. After the abrogation of Article 370 Imran stated: “Incidents like Pulwama are bound to happen again. I can already predict this will happen. They will attempt to place the blame on us again. They may strike us again, and we will strike back.”

For Pakistan, any action taken by India to counter its designs is an act of war. On the other hand, actions by terrorists in Kashmir are justified by calling them internal acts, without any reference to Pakistan. Imran has been accusing Indian security forces of brutally suppressing Kashmiris. Restrictions exist, however after preventive measures were adopted, there has not been a single death. Hence, his cries have had limited impact. Simultaneously, he ignores that there are thousands of officially documented Baluchis and Pathans who are missing in Pakistan. Pakistan accuses India of supporting the Baluch freedom struggle and the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, while refusing to acknowledge the official support ISI provides to anti- India terrorist groups, because of which Pakistan is now in the FATF Grey List.

Its continuation in the list is because it has failed to meet global requirements on curbing terrorism funding. Refusing to accept its own shortcomings, it blames India, claiming it is politicising the FATF. Pakistan has been claiming that it opened the Kartarpur corridor for religious reasons and for improving Indo-Pak relations. However, the presence of posters on Khalistan and Kashmir at the Gurudwara suggest quite the contrary. Pakistan has for decades been supporting terrorism in India. It is an established fact that terrorist strikes in India, including in cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Jammu, Srinagar, Samba and Nagrota were launched from Pakistani soil.

Known terrorist leaders move freely in Pakistan. When questioned, Pakistan claims that there is no proof of their involvement. Terrorists killed along the LoC cannot possibly be coming from any other country, yet Pakistan denies its involvement and demands coordinates of launch pads, expecting the world to believe that launch pads are permanent structures, rather than temporary locations for housing terrorists prior to infiltration. Pakistan is aware that Gilgit- Baltistan is disputed territory; yet it permitted China to develop the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through the region. This is against all international norms but is considered acceptable by Pakistan.

It has separated Gilgit-Baltistan from POK, while it continues to harp on Indian abrogation of article 370 and bifurcating J and K into two Union Territories. Pakistan accuses India of acting against the UN resolution while claiming its actions on Gilgit-Baltistan are within the UN charter. It blames India for ceasefire violations and targeting civilian population, ignoring its own violations in support of infiltration and simultaneously attacking Indian villages. It falsely charges India of human rights violations conveniently ignoring its own. At every stage Pakistan displays hypocrisy projecting itself to be innocent while India remains the aggressor. No wonder the world ignores Pakistan’s cries.

(The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army)