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Rise in Pak-Iran tensions |
CLEARLY, the Iranian government cannot quite decide on whose doorstep to lay the blame. The suicide attack that targeted seven senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers, among the 49 killed, has come as a blow to Tehran.
Pakistan has vehemently denied any involvement in the suicide attack in Iran’s Sistan Balochistan province. Iran has faced sporadic attacks in its restive eastern frontier adjoining the Balochistan province in Pakistan. This latest attack, has irked Tehran so much so that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad directly blamed Pakistani security agents for involvement. Earlier, Iranian Parliament Speaker, Ali Larijani, held US responsible for the attack. The Iranian government had previously been accusing US of funding and supporting Jundullah—an insurgent outfit, also known as People’s Resistance Movement of Iran that is fighting against the political and religious oppression of Iranian minority Sunnis.
Part of the allegations pertaining Pakistan may be supported by the fact that the attackers are believed to have slipped across the border from Pakistan. The poorly manned border between Pakistan and Iran witnesses large-scale cross-border movement among tribes on either side. Besides, the heavy smuggling conducted by organised crime syndicates across Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan pose a grave security threat to all three neighbours.
While Iran had previously accused Pakistan of not doing enough to curb Iranian insurgents from its side, the latest charges, levelled by none other than Ahmadenijad, are serious enough to merit concern. A full-scale diplomatic furore erupted with both Iran and Pakistan exchanging heated allegations and denials. Iran has demanded immediate action and arrest of the culprits of the attack, while the Foreign office in Islamabad has rejected the presence of Jundallah leader Abdul Malik Regi in Pakistan. Regi is believed to be in Pakistan, from where he plans operations inside Iran, mainly relying on suicide attacks and kidnappings targeting Iranian security officials including police and Revolutionary Guards. Apart from several bombings, killing a number of security officials over the past few years, a kidnapping incident in 2007 led to the closure of Pakistan-Iran border: it involved nearly two-dozen Iranian truck drivers and was finally resolved after Pakistani security agencies managed to secure the release and subsequent return of these hostages.
The Iranian allegations are bound to create impediments, or at least hinder, the counter-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and Iran. Though sentiments may be running high in Tehran, the government should focus more on cooperating more closely with Pakistan by sharing intelligence and developing a strategy to hunt down the perpetrators of the attack. Pakistan is currently facing a grave military challenge in Waziristan, having launched a ground offensive against the Taleban and does not need more instability on its borders with Iran. The presence of US and international forces in neighbouring Afghanistan has bred further destabilisation in the entire region. It is hence critical that the regional neighbours try to overcome their differences and jointly work towards combating terrorism. Iran should, at the same time, step up efforts to look into the grievances of its ethnic minority groups, and take away the advantage groups like Jundallah exploit in the name of addressing just concerns.
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Untenable claim |
A WEEK ago, China expressed anger at Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for having the temerity to visit the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh ahead of elections there. Since then, the Chinese press has increased the tension with reports that India’s planned Agni-V ballistic missile will be able to hit China’s most northern city, Harbin. The underlying suggestion is that China is a potential target for Indian aggression.
China is not doing itself any favors by taking such an anti-Indian stand. It is making itself look distinctly aggressive toward a country from which it has nothing to fear. The issue of the missiles in particular makes no sense. China’s nuclear arsenal is massive compared to India’s and, unlike the Agni-V which will only be ready for testing in early 2011 and probably not deployed for at least another year, its Dong Feng-31A missile is already in use and can hit targets 11,200 km away. All of India’s cities are thus easily in range.
As for the Arunachal visit, since when does the prime minister of India have to have China’s permission to visit a part of his country? China’s claim to the state is no excuse for its outburst. The claim has no basis in international law and the rest of the world does not recognize it. Arunachal is as much a part of India as Kerala or West Bengal. End of story. Manmohan Singh was acting entirely appropriately in going there and for the best of reasons — to campaign on his party’s behalf in the upcoming elections.
China is in no position to lecture others about disputed territories. Its control of Tibet is far from undisputed. But no government would be so undiplomatic as to protest if the Chinese prime minister visited the capital, Lhasa. Certainly not India. Nor, indeed, would New Delhi (or Islamabad for that matter) huff and puff if a Chinese minister visited the eastern part of Jammu and Kashmir which China occupies — not out of weakness but because that is not the way governments behave in such matters.
When, a couple of months ago, an independent Chinese think-tank suggested that India should be dismembered, it could be dismissed as the ravings of mad nationalist unconnected to the government. Not now. These latest offerings are official. They come from the Foreign Ministry and the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling party.
It is very disturbing to see China ratcheting up the tension. It is bad policy. It has already backfired by making it look menacing and could so easily get out of hand. In fact, in 1962, the two countries fought a brief border war over Arunachal. That might seem an impossibility today but unless the brakes are applied now, it could at the least end in a cross-border shouting match and an arms build-up — with the international community forced into diplomatic emergency mode in order to calm matters down. There are enough problems in the world as it is without one more. Wiser and more temperate heads are needed in Beijing. Otherwise it will not be just India that views China as a threat; others in Asia will as well.
—Arab News
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