Delegations from India and Pakistan were in the United States last week in order to seek support for their diplomatic stance following the short air war in May.
The Pakistani delegation was led by PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto and included Senator Sherry Rehman, former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Dr Musadik Malik, Engineer Khurram Dastgir, Faisal Subzwari, Tehmina Janjua, Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, and Jalil Abbas Jilani. The visit was part of a broad-based engagement campaign launched by Pakistan in the US and Europe to present its perspective on the recent surge in tensions with India, and counter New Delhi’s growing lobbying activities around the world. As part of its global outreach, the team also visited London and Brussels.
In his presentations, Bilawal Bhutto highlighted Pakistan’s core concerns: terrorism, Kashmir, and the ongoing water dispute with India. “Water wars used to be a theory. India shutting off Pakistan’s water supply is laying the foundation for the first nuclear water war,” he said, referring to repeated violations of the Indus Waters Treaty by India. To quote Bilawal, “We have said that cutting off our water supply will be an act of war. We don’t say it in a jingoistic manner… It’s an existential crisis for us. Any country would fight for its survival and for its water,” urging global powers to take a firm position against what he described as naked Indian aggression.
The Pakistani delegation also engaged with a bipartisan group of US legislators at a dinner reception hosted by Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh at Pakistan House. The event was attended by members of Congress, including Representatives Jack Bergman, Tom Suozzi, Ryan Zinke, Maxine Waters, Al Green, Jonathan Jackson, Hank Johnson, Stacey Plaskett, Henry Cuellar, Mike Turner, Riley Moore, George Latimer, and Cleo Fields, among others. Addressing them, Bilawal Bhutto made a strong case for regional peace and stability, characterizing the delegation’s visit as a mission for peace, “Our Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, gave this delegation a mission, and the mission is peace — to engage in dialogue and diplomacy with India to resolve our issues.”
Appreciating the crucial role played by the United States in facilitating a ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed nations, the former foreign minister urged the US legislators to continue their efforts in promoting peace and stability in South Asia and convince India tat it’s in our common interest to resolve all outstanding disputes, including the core issue of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K). According to media reports, the US Congress members assured their full support for regional peace and stability in South Asia, commending the delegation for their comprehensive briefing on the ongoing crisis.
Addressing a press conference in Washington after the delegation’s engagements with the US lawmakers and think tanks, the PPP chairman said Pakistan’s civil and military leadership were on the same page against terrorism and believed that it was in the region’s interest to establish peace with India. However, India has been running away from all offers for holding a dialogue to lay the foundation of a durable peace in South Asia.
Needless to say, following the dangerous escalation triggered by India’s unprovoked attack on Pakistan last month, it is important that the US, which mediated a ceasefire, should intervene to help solve Indo-Pak bilateral disputes, including the core issue of Kashmir. But India does not want mediation from the US or the United Nations or any interactional actor and does not even want to engage directly with Pakistan. This is not the approach of a modern, rational state. In this connection, it may be mentioned here that Pakistan offered to cooperate in an impartial international probe into the Pahalgam incident, but India remained adamant and responded with missile attacks. Also, India never came out with any solid evidence about Pakistan’s involvement in the incident.
As Bilawal Bhutto rightly pointed out, for durable peace in South Asia, we need to have a comprehensive dialogue which addresses all friction points between the two countries. That is the only way forward for Pakistan and India. After the recent intense high-tech war between the two countries, South Asia, and the globe by extension, is a less safe place today than ever before. Both countries are nuclear armed and it is only a small step or a slight miscalculation from a conventional war to a nuclear holocaust.
The stark truth is that the possibility of a full-blown war between two nuclear-armed powers is stronger now than ever before. India’s current stance is filled with horrendous prospects. For, if there’s an attack anywhere in India or Indian-occupied Kashmir by a local group of freedom fighters, India will start a war, proof or no proof. The only way to avert such an eventuality is for Islamabad and New Delhi to resolve their disputes at the negotiating table. The alternative is too frightening to contemplate.