Targeted on 2 fronts

It was never a secret that there is a Pakistan-China axis which operates at India’s expense. This has been evident from the long-held Chinese view that the demarcation of the Sino-Indian boundary in the western sector (Ladakh) would not be an independent exercise but would follow the settlement of the India-Pakistan conundrum in Kashmir. The cloak of civility over this softly-stated proposition slipped off Sunday with the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda machinery suggesting that if India as a “third party” could come out with troops in defence of Bhutan’s interests (in keeping treaty obligations going back decades) in the eastern Himalayas, China too could intervene in the Kashmir Valley with soldiers on Pakistan’s behalf.

This might not happen tomorrow. However, China has already been engaged in a troop buildup in the guise of road building in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It is only half a step from there to backing jihadis from the Pakistan side, or even Pakistani regulars, as they make trouble for Indian soldiers on the Line of Control.

Taking full advantage of the military standoff between India and China on the tri-junction with Bhutan, the Pakistanis exploited Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s death anniversary on July 8 to aid the “freedom struggle” in Kashmir. Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa both made deferential remarks about the slain Wani as Pakistani troops shelled the LoC, drawing a sharp Indian response.

Let’s face it. A two-front war is closer to being real than we think. For starters, this calls for a policy to bring internal tranquility to the Kashmir Valley.