Using terrorists is Pak’s security, foreign policy to counter India: Ashok Bhan

Srinagar, July 09: The Chairman of the Kashmir Policy Group, Ashok Bhan on Tuesday said Pakistan was using terrorist groups as part of its security and foreign policy to counter India. He described the recent spate of terrorist attacks in the Jammu region and south Kashmir as a “big design” to destabilise the region.
Speaking at a civil society meeting organized by the Asian Peace Forum in Delhi, Bhan said that Pakistan’s obsession with India was rooted in its ideology, which is built on twin pillars of religion and antagonism towards the country. “Pakistan has never recognised its own history and has instead relied on historical appropriation and distortions of the past,” he said.
Ashok claimed that Pakistan’s paranoia regarding India is unfounded and that the country should instead acknowledge its Indian heritage and the Muslim-ness of a majority of its population. “Instead, successive Pakistani leaderships and the intelligentsia preferred to build the idea of Pakistan on pillars of Islam and antagonism towards India,” he said.
He also blamed Pakistan for using terrorist groups to further its security and foreign policy goals, which has led to a proxy war between the two countries.
The Kashmir Policy Group Chairman said that India has always offered an olive branch to resolve bilateral issues amicably, but Pakistan has instead continued to engage in political belligerence, terrorism, and raking up the Kashmir issue in international forums.
“In today’s world when India is leading the global narrative towards peace and development, India propounds the doctrine of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, Pakistan has to change and in the interests of its people has to shun terrorism as a state policy and participate with India as a good neighbour to be part of peace, development and philosophy that tries to foster an understanding that the whole of humanity is one family at least in South Asia,” he said.
Bhan’s remarks come amid a surge in terrorist attacks in Jammu region and south Kashmir, which have left several people dead and many more injured. The attacks have been widely condemned by various parties and civil society groups, who have called for an end to terrorism and violence in the region.