PAKISTAN’S Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir-Khan has accused the international community of ignoring the arms race instigated by India, while continuing to sell the country a huge number of weapons, in a sign of growing tensions between the long-term foes
Speaking during a seminar entitled ‘India - A hypocritical regional power’ organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS), the top lawmaker said the world was oblivious to the real face of India.
He said: “Human rights abuses and other issues are rising on a daily basis but the international community is not paying attention to the arms race and hunger of India.
“The foreign powers don’t come to India to taste their spices, but to sell their arms.”
The politician also explicitly referred to India’s hostile relationship with Pakistan, saying: “India will not open up its market for Pakistan.
“India is a supporter of free trade with Pakistan, but on its own terms.”
Mr Dastgir-Khan accused India of oppressing independence movements in the Kashmir region. The international community is not paying attention to the arms race and hunger of India. He accused the Indian media of misreporting facts, while also claiming the Indian government continues to oppress independence movements in the Kashmir region of north-west India.
Mr Dastgir-Khan stated India cannot employ negative tactics to deny the right of self-determination of the Kashmiris, in a sign of the ongoing conflict along the disputed border.
He also called on the international community to see a different perspective of India, to that which is depicted in the media and films.
Speaking to VOA, the Defence Minister stated that despite the ongoing hostility between the two nations, good relations are possible by pointing to the landmark inter-Korean summit which took place between the North and South Korean leaders at the end of April.
Commenting on the Inter-Korea summit, he said: “It is that kind of courage that is required for us to transcend the past.
Anti-India protests erupt in Kashmir amid deadly clashes
“Courage will also be required to see that peace has greater dividends for our future generations than hostilities.”
However, he accused India of losing a “unique and very valuable moment” in Pakistani history to promote mutual peace between the nations, after former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited New Delhi in 2014 to attend the inauguration ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He stated: “This unique, peaceful moment, this political consensus in Pakistan that in the 21st century we should move forward with India by finding peace with our eastern neighbour, that moment is merely decimated and I think a great opportunity has been lost since 2014 of bringing our two countries together.
"India has created a string of bases along the Pakistani border in which now they have all the material and men, including their air force, in which they could if, God forbid, a situation arises, mobilise extremely quickly. This is a reality.”
The news comes as India has increased its military spending by 5.5 per cent to £47 billion in 2017, according to a report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
India increased its military spending by 5.5 per cent to £47bn in 2017
The report said: “The Indian government plans to expand, modernise and enhance the operational capability of its armed forces, motivated at least partially by tensions with China and Pakistan.”
Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), commented on the findings, saying: “Clearly, India's relations with both Pakistan and China have deteriorated over the past decade, and particularly since 2016 or so.”
Kashmir has been a contested region since India and Pakistan won independence from the UK in August 1947, and both nations have laid claims to the region.
Kashmir was free to accede to India or Pakistan following partition, and local leader Maharaja Hari Singh chose India, which led to a two-year war in 1947.
Violence regularly breaks out along the border between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and both countries accuse each other of instigating attacks and increasing tensions.