EAM S Jaishankar | Photo Credit: AP

Key Highlights S Jaishankar said that India wants to reclaim physical control over PoK The same sentiment was expressed by the home minister and the defence minister This may be a strategic move to change the international narrative on Kashmir There may or may not be a real intention to go to war India would like to showcase the discontent brewing in PoK

When a seasoned diplomat like S Jaishankar, who is now the external affairs minister, makes a statement, each word is weighed, all consequences premeditated. A man of such prudence does not cultivate a temperament to blurt out ‘in the heat of the moment’ avowals.

So while many were taken by surprise when he hoped that one day India expected to have “physical jurisdiction” over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), it cannot be put down to a fault of rashness. S Jaishankar knew precisely what he was saying, why and the consequences thereof.

The position of making a deliberated assertion for taking back the land would have been meticulously thought through in a threadbare and detailed fashion by no less than the prime minister himself.

Modi’s government’s stratagem shift

Had that not been the case, EAM S Jaishankar would not have echoed the same sentiment a little while after Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. If one had deduced that the previous statements might have been attempts at politicking, S Jaishankar’s contention instead sealed the case in favour of a stratagem shift.



External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during a press conference. (Picture credit: ANI)

The new government, the Modi 2.0 administration, has brought novelty to status quo issues which had been in deep freeze for decades. Diplomats have, for years, articulated the same sentiments in many roundabout ways, particularly on Kashmir, bilateralism and, of course, terror.

If the abrogation of Article 370 is a fresh start, the question of PoK arises next. It is impossible to claim physical jurisdiction without getting involved in a war. Army chief General Bipin Rawat has already said that the Army is ready to win back PoK, but it is finally the government that takes a decision in such matters.

For the sake of examining options, even if one were to consider that the scenario of war emerges, will Pakistan limit itself to just the conventional battlefield? Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has already insinuated that using nuclear weapons is an option if his country has its back to the wall. Even if Islamabad were to use a dirty bomb in a limited area, would India then hold back deliberating even more widespread destruction?

Considering these are basic questions, it is implicit that the government along with the defence chiefs would have reflected on each point already.

Perhaps, one indication of what the statement meant to achieve is concealed in the words of Jaishankar when he stated that talks with Pakistan will henceforth be on PoK and not J&K. This is a clear signal that India wants to change the narrative on Kashmir. Whether India is actually considering action is one matter; importantly, it wants to limit the noise on Jammu and Kashmir and put the spotlight on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Whenever Pakistan will attempt to raise the question of the Valley, the Indian government will put its right on PoK as the first counterpoint.

Previously in 1994, the Indian Parliament had passed a resolution on Kashmir including PoK stating: “(a) The State of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall be an integral part of India and any attempts to separate it from the rest of the country will be resisted by all necessary means; (b) India has the will and capacity to firmly counter all designs against its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and demands that – (c) Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression; and resolves that -(d) all attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met resolutely.”

Since then we have dropped the ball on ‘Part C’ and kept the circumference of debate around terror, while Pakistan kept harping about atrocities. Kashmir thus became synonymous with Jammu and Kashmir. The Modi government felt a clamant need to change the discourse. Rather than being on the backfoot, it will now go on the offensive and put Pakistan on the mat about the conditions prevailing on its side of Kashmir, along with challenging its illegal occupation of the land for which the Instrument of Accession had been signed in the favour of India.

Unrest in PoK over Pakistani misrule

India would also want to diplomatically exploit the deep discontent prevailing in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where people want to throw off the yoke of Pakistani administration. The country has been brutally oppressing the people of PoK, using it as a base for training camps for terrorists rather than giving the people a semblance of empowerment and governance. There is no free media, jobs or vocational training or even high-class education. Instead, there is exploitation of hydel and mineral resources without locals accruing any benefit from it and instead there is an oppressive Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in force, which allows security forces to make random arrests.

The pot is simmering not just in PoK but also in northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan. Just last year, the Pakistan government promulgated the 'Gilgit Baltistan Order, 2018', which has replaced the 'Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order of 2009'. The titles of the two orders are self-explanatory; the right of the people to govern themselves has been withdrawn despite mass protests.

This month when Imran Khan addressed a rally in PoK capital Muzaffarabad a little after the Indian government revoked Article 370, a huge crowd vociferously came to out to chant slogans against him, saying “Niazi (Imran) go back”.



Protest in PoK during Imran Khan's rally (The image is not clear because of the snapshot taken from a low-quality video.)

India will, in its new strategy to keep the focus on PoK, want to tap into this disgruntlement and draw the attention of the international community towards the misdeeds of Pakistan in Kashmir. Alongside, India will take rapid strides in improving the lot of the people on the Indian side. Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik is hoping that there will be such a huge spurt in development and growth in opportunities under the new arrangement that the people of PoK will themselves spur a movement to join back India.

These twin goals of ensnaring Pakistan in its own game, thus pushing PoK into the limelight, and also making J&K a model of development seem to be behind Jaishankar’s statement, rather than war-mongering.

That, it seems, is the crux of the matter.

The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way represent those of Times Network.