Pakistan is trying to ‘piggyback’ on India-China border dispute as LoC ceasefire violations triple

• Ceasefire violations along the India-Pakistan border — the Line of Control (LoC) have tripled in comparison to 2018.
  
• Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, also recently accused India of being behind the Karachi Stock Exchange attack.
  
• Tilak Devasher, a member of the National Security Advisory Board, believes that Pakistan is trying to ‘piggyback’ on India’s border tensions with China.
  

Pakistan is trying to divert India’s attention as it goes up against China in Ladakh. The number of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) has tripled in comparison to two years ago. In addition to the chaos along the border, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan accused India of being behind the Karachi Stock Exchange terrorist attack.

Source: Government Data

“Pakistan is trying to piggyback on what China’s been doing in Ladakh,” said Tilak Devasher, member of the National Security Advisory Board, during Mumbai-based think tank Gateway House webinar.


According to him, Pakistan thinks it can be the beneficiary rather the initiator in creating border issues with India. Even in its interaction with China, Pakistan is — at best — filling in gaps of information but does not play a primary role.

Pakistan reportedly deployed around two divisions worth of troops, around 20,000 soldiers, along the LAC in the Eastern Ladakh sector, according to ANI. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) — the military media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces — has denied any such developments. However, Devasher believes that the possibility cannot be discounted.

“It may be trying to get India to divert its attention from one front activity to two-front activity,” said Devasher.

Karachi Stock Exchange attack
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, said that there was “no doubt” that India was behind the Karachi Stock Exchange attack on June 30.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava responded saying, “India rejects these absurd comments on the terrorist attack on Karachi. Pakistan cannot shift the blame on India for its domestic problems,” during a virtual press conference on July 2.

“We would ask Pakistan that they may wish to reflect on this and on their own government’s position, including their Prime Minister’s description of the global terrorist as a martyr,” he said.

According to Devasher, the Karachi Stock Exchange attack may have been a force flag operation done by the Imran Khan government itself.

Despite Pakistan’s instigations, India and China are currently engaged in military and diplomatic level talks to de-escalate tensions along the border. “We expect the Chinese side to sincerely follow up and ensure the expeditious restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas as per bilateral agreements and protocols,” said Srivastava.

Both sides have emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and step-wise de-escalation as a priority. According to the MEA, the two sides will continue their meetings in the future to resolve the issues to mutual satisfaction.

SEE ALSO:
A nuclear war between India and Pakistan would result in 125 million deaths, global cooling and mass starvation

China wants India to stay in its lane — three reasons why China is puffing its chest, according to a former diplomat

China’s aggression isn’t only aimed at India — but at least four other countries in the region