IS PoK TO BE LIBERATED FROM PAKISTAN’S OCCUPATION SOON

IS PoK TO BE LIBERATED FROM PAKISTAN’S OCCUPATION SOON

14-OCT-ENG 3

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

DELHI-------------------------From Indian soil, the Afghan government has bluntly told Pakistan that the time has come for it to be careful. The Afghan Taliban's support for India's sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir has infuriated Pakistan and shaken its roots in PoK.

Pakistan is so infuriated by the visit of Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India that it has started a war. In retaliation, the Taliban regime is also taking a befitting retaliation. Claims of massive destruction are being made from both Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, the message conveyed to Pakistan from Indian soil during this period appears to have completely shaken it. Pakistan is increasingly fearful that this time, illegally occupied Kashmir (Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, or POK) could slip out of its hands. While India was the first to issue warnings, the Afghan Taliban has now issued a veiled ultimatum.

The Afghan Taliban has dealt Pakistan a blow on POK by fully supporting India's sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir from Indian soil. This comes at a time when Afghanistan and Pakistan are on the brink of all-out war. Pakistan is deeply upset by Afghanistan's stance in its joint statement with India. Pakistan has also formally protested against this move, calling it a violation of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has already clarified India's position on PoK in his bilateral meeting with Muttaqi, stating that Afghanistan shares a 106-kilometer border (Wakhan Corridor: this area is currently under illegal occupation of Pakistan), and therefore, Afghanistan is India's close neighbor, and we are well-wishers of the Afghan people. India has a deep interest in Afghanistan's development and progress. Pakistan is so alarmed by this that it summoned the Afghan ambassador in Islamabad and tried to portray the joint statement between the two countries as highly insensitive.

Pakistan's threats have had no effect on Afghanistan, and it has issued a clear ultimatum to the country ruled by Shahbaz Sharif and Asim Munir that if peace talks with it break down, it has other options. Addressing the media in New Delhi, Afghan Foreign Minister Muttaqi warned Pakistan, "If Pakistan does not want good relations and peace, Afghanistan has other options." He didn't explicitly mention this "other option," but the question arises: is he referring to the upheaval against Pakistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir?

As far as India's official position on PoK is concerned, the Indian Parliament has declared that this region is an integral part of our country, illegally occupied by Pakistan. Without going too far, after the Pahalgam terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that if there is ever going to be any talks with Pakistan, it will only be on PoK and cross-border terrorism. Mohan Bhagwat, head of the RSS, the ideological leader of the ruling BJP at the center, recently clarified regarding PoK, "...the whole of India is one house. Someone has taken over a room in my house (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir). Tomorrow we have to take it back and set up camp there again."