These mutual obsessions have not changed for the past seven decades. But if Pakistan’s concerns are understandable, and one look at the map will confirm that, what about India’s obsessions? To begin, what exactlyt are they?

According to former Indian Foreign minister Jaswant Singh,

A.      Pakistan was an incorrigibly troublesome state that dreamt of parity with India it could never attain.

B.      Jinnah’s only real legacy was a permanent reminder of what a tragic mistake Pakistan had been.

C.      Kashmir was ‘closed history’. It was not a fitting topic for international diplomacy.

D.      No oen had as much experience Islam as India did, hence it knew how to deal with Islam and Pakistan.

E.       Pakistan is an illegitimate state and an illegitimate heir of Britiush Empire, Therefore it could have n legal claim to patrimony and certainly not in preference to the sole legitimate heir-India.

Jaswant Singh was right in only one aspect, namely, that India knew how to deal with Islam and Muslims. Indians proved that by attending loyally and faithfully to their Muslim rulers, many accepting Islam and following their directions for 700 years. Indeed, Muslim/Mughal India’s famne owed a lot to their Hindu subjects.

In all other aspects, Jaswant Singh was self-evidently, wrong. For instance, had there been any truth in his assertion that partition was a terrible mistake, Bangladesh, whose birth was mid-wifed by India, would surely have merged with Indian Bengal. And Indian Ocuupied Kashmir, which Indian seeks to annex, would not be in revolt, so much so that a 700,000 strong Indian occupation force is needed to suppress the uprising with regular curfews, frequent blackouts and the suspension of email and phone services for months on end to keep the population cowed and voiceless.

For infinitely smaller Pakistan to claim parity with India, as Jaswant Singh suggests, would amount to proffer insanity as an appropriate response to reality. Pakistan only seeks the notional parity all states enjoy under international law. And if partition was such a terrible mistake, why did Jaswant accompany former Prime Minister Vajpayee on the bus yatra to Lahore and acknowledge, at Minar-e-Pakistan, that India was reconciled to Pakistan’s existence? And, if that was only because such knavery was meant to mislead, it fooled no one, neither Pakistanis nor Indians. Frankly, since partition, too many signals had been sent but not received; agreements reached but never concluded while others were signed but never implemented for people to realize that there is no happy end to the Pakistan-India saga. In fact, the popular feeling on both sides of the border is that the saga is headed towards a nasty direction.

Consider the portents. Is not the current regime in Delihi led by a Hindu fanatic the blood of Gujrati Muslims on his hands? Are not Modi’s actions, speeches and policies steeped in the bitter rhetoric of religion? Do they not convey a feverish hysteria against Muslims, Pakistan and Islam? Is not Indian secularism, once rooted in conscience and humanity, now dead and buried in extremist Hindu dogma?

If there was hope that the Courts would act to curb Modi’s descent into religious bloodletting by dispensing justice to minorities it vanished when four Indian Supreme Court judges held a press conference last year, accusing Modi of manipulating the Chief Justice, via blackmail and threats, to set up benches and rosters which would ensure Modi’s henchmen would get off.

The predicament of Indian Election Commission is no less dire. Terrified commissioners ignore flagrant violations of election laws and voting procedures to favor the BJP, les their families be accosted by RSS thugs.

Even the Indian Army either consented or was set up to bomb its own soldiers in Pulwama to boost Modi’s electoral prospects.

Who then will take on Modi? The opposition in India is hardly worth its name. The once mighty Indian media too has been cowed. Social media has been morphed into lynch mobs and gangs.

Luckily for Modi, the capacity f his supporters to be duped by their own propaganda is infinite. Had the consequences of the madness he leaves in his wake not proved tragic, it would be amusing.

So desperate is Modi to lend credence to Indian lies about Balakot that my utterances on a private news channel were doctored to say the opposite of what I had said. Thanks to the deft work of our agencies, the doctoring was discovered, compelling the Indian media to publicly withdraw the false report.

Tavleen Singh, a prominent Indian journalist, wrote in January that fantaics of ‘New India’ loath Muslims and believe criticism of Modi amounts to an attack on India itself. Indians who attack him have no right to live in the country. He also said that ‘New India’ hates Islam and gloats everytime a Muslim is dragged off to a police station to be beaten or worse.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is making a concerted effort to promote its own narrative but sadly, not in the OAU, the Caribbean group, Commonwealth Secretariat etc which it should rather than leave the field open for India. Even though mountains of data of money laundering by big tycoons who fund showy BJP electoral campaigns exist, we seem slow to exploit such data. Instead, it is India which is using the platform provided by FATF to malign Pakistan and damage our economy.

Kickbacks and commissions are becoming a hallmark of Modi negotiated deals, like the Rafael fighter jet deal with France, the chief beneficiary of which was another one of the Indian Prime Minister’s acolytes. Alas, there are no signs of Pak negotiators alluding to these Indian malpractices in FATF meetings despite the fact that they clearly amount to money laundering.

Then there is the Hundi system, proof plenty in itself that money laundering exists there too. Additionally India has the largest gold market in the world. Gold trading is an open door for money laundering which is one reason why FATF is asking Pakistan to make gold purchases subject to banking transactions. But what about India? It’s difficult to believe that already happening in India.

The Pakistan dossier handed over to UN Secretary General earlier this month contains details about Indian connections to these terror groups. Cnfessions of the spy Yadav also revealed the extent to which India abetted, facilitated, financed and directed attacks on Pakistan, including raising a force of 700 militants to sabotage CPEC; and training camps in Afghanistan (66) and in India (21) run by the Kabul regime and New Delhi respectively.

Western reluctance to hold India’s feet to the fire on account of terror attacks by the Indian state and its proxies stems from the fear that India may retaliate by denying them access to its lucrative and large market. Developed countries got to great lengths to retain India’s custom, even promising to not sell similar items of weaponry to Pakistan. The onset of the US-China cold war, and India’s alliance with US, has led to Washington turning a blind eye to India’s criminal antics. The fact that Narendra Modi was himself once denied entry to America because of the genocide of Gujrati Muslims, which was overturned when he became the Prime Minister, is a reminder to what extent the US will go to indulge the likes of Modi and Netanyahu.

To sum up, Modi’s ‘New India’ comprises a mix of false flag operations and surgical strikes; persecution and murder of minorities especially Muslims, while facing no opposition at home and very litte resistance abroad. And all this happening under the rubric of a deadly rivalry, a nuclear overhang, suggesting what? That the subcontinent is being readied, willingly or unwillingly, for a major test of strength between India and Pakistan. Be that as it may, Modi’s India is not a nation worth befriending. Hence, Pakistan must remain determined to confront India resolutely, not so much as if, but when ever challenged or provoked.

The writer is a former diplomat and current affairs analyst.