When it comes to a country’s foreign policy and matters of national security, it’s an unsaid norm that the opposition parties do not turn it into a political issue. Irrespective of whichever government is in power, it is expected that opposition leaders refrain from making sensational statements challenging the government’s position on matters related to foreign policy and national security.
The logic is simple. The foreign policy of any country is not just connected to its international brand image but also impacts global perception; thus the opposition going out of its way to bad mouth a country’s foreign policy can have large-scale ramifications for that nation’s internal security and stability.
Despite having ruled the country for most of the 20th century since Bharat achieved independence and well into the first decade of the 21st century, the opposition party Congress seems to have forgotten this basic protocol. Or rather, they are so perturbed by the scenario of dynastic politics coming to an end that they don’t mind compromising Bharat’s national interests in their quest for power.
Criticizing the Bharatiya government on foreign soil and insinuating that Bharat is “no longer a democracy” as it’s being ruled by a “Hindu majoritarian fascist government” has become a routine affair for the likes of Congress. The Western media propaganda targeting the Bharatiya government over its alleged “Hindutva fascism”, “oppression of minorities” etc. couldn’t have been possible without the involvement of Bharat’s internal actors. Since the Modi government came to power in 2014, the opposition has been obsessed with building the narrative that Bharat is no longer a democracy and what’s more, selling the narrative on foreign soil.
One cannot perhaps find a precedent in the history of Bharatiya politics when it comes to the issue of the opposition putting their own country’s global reputation at stake for vote bank politics. The opposition seems to have a special affinity for whipping up the narrative that goes against the Bharatiya government’s official foreign policy, especially when it comes to countries like China and Pakistan.
Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar triggered a massive row in May 2024 as an old video of his surfaced went viral on social media in May 2024 in which he could be heard saying that Pakistan is a respected nation and that it also possesses an atom bomb that if it is provoked, can wreak havoc any time and thus Bharat shouldn’t provoke them and rather engage in dialogue.
“They are also a sovereign country (Pakistan). They are a respected nation. You can talk tough with them (Pakistan). But start the dialogue. You are walking with a gun which yielded you with nothing. Tensions are escalating. And if a mad person comes there, what will happen to the nation? They have an atom bomb. We also possess the atomic bomb. But if a mad person detonates our bomb at Lahore station, so within eight seconds, eight moments, its radioactivity will reach Amritsar”, Aiyar reportedly said in the viral video, as per various media reports.
In the video, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar also reportedly took a dig at the Modi government, claiming that they made no effort to reach out to Pakistan in the last decade. He accused the Modi government of snubbing Pakistan and thus exposing the country to the threat of a bomb attack, as per various media reports.
To begin with, the veteran Congress leader’s comments are embarrassing and reflect utter desperation on his part to stay in the limelight. Coming to facts, Bharat did make several attempts to reach out to Pakistan during the first tenure of the Modi government. But the Modi government hardened its stance towards Pakistan post-Pulwama attack. Bharat’s official position regarding Pakistan on various global forums has been that talks and terror do not go together. Bharat’s External Affairs Minister has repeatedly emphasized at international forums that Bharat is willing to engage in dialogue with Pakistan but for that, Pakistan has to stop using cross-border terrorism as a strategy to bring Bharat to the table.
Thus, ironically enough, Mani Shankar Aiyar here seems to be acting like the spokesperson of the Pakistani government, gently threatening Bharat that you be better respectful towards us otherwise we have the nuclear bomb. He doesn’t balance his arguments by also asking Pakistan to act tough on cross-border terrorism emanating from its soil. He chooses to overlook the issue and instead lectures the Bharatiya government to soften its stance towards Pakistan, lest they drop an atom bomb.
Aiyar’s comments seem childish and immature, not becoming of an astute diplomat. But even worse, these seem outright dangerous for Bharat’s internal security as he seems to be openly acting as the spokesperson for Pakistan. Even as the Congress party tries to distance itself from its comments, what Aiyar has reportedly said raises questions on the Pakistan-Congress party nexus.
These are not the first set of comments though in which Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar can be seen attacking the Modi government’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Pakistan and acting like a spokesperson for the party government. As reported by Pakistan’s newspaper Dawn, Aiyar visited Pakistan in February 2024 to attend the session Hijr ki Rakh, Visaal kay Phool, Indo-Pak Affairs on the second day of the Faiz Festival of Alhamra.
“All I ask the people (of Pakistan) is to remember that Modi has never received more than one-third of the votes but our system is such that if has one-third of the votes, he has two-thirds in the seats. So two-thirds of Indians are ready to come towards you (Pakistanis)”, said Aiyar reportedly as quoted by Dawn.
Now, this sounds more like an election campaign speech than an academic or geopolitical deliberation! The point is what compelled Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar to give this sort of a popular speech in Pakistan? Why would he talk about Bharat’s voting system in Pakistan? What are the stakes? Even if one gives him leeway for a moment that ok, the Modi government’s Pakistan policy is an election issue for the Congress and they are campaigning on it, why would he make people in Pakistan the audience for this?
He also reportedly said that Bharat had the courage to conduct surgical strikes against Pakistan but didn’t have the courage to sit across the table and talk. He further said that it was “silly” to expect that the “Hindutva establishment in India” would want to talk to Pakistan. “Under Hindutva, they are trying to imitate Pakistan, which became an Islamic republic. The Gandhi-Nehru answer to the Islamic republic was that they would not become a republic based on religion but a republic based on all religions. But their philosophy that lasted for 65 years was overthrown in 2014 and for the next five years we are going to have the same mindset in Delhi”, said Aiyar reportedly as quoted by Dawn.
The sheer hypocrisy of these comments is astounding, to say the least. On one hand, Mani Shankar Aiyar heaps praises on Pakistan, and on the other hand, he compares the Modi government’s supposed “Hindutva establishment” to Pakistan’s Islamic state to prove that Hindutva s dangerous. Such irresponsible and anti-national comments being made about the country’s government on foreign soil are indeed a great embarrassment for the whole of Bharat.
By openly insinuating that the Modi government isn’t the least interested in talking to Pakistan because it’s “Hindutvavadi”, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar is not just indulging in cheap propaganda on foreign soil but rather also provoking Pakistan. He is further fueling the global narrative peddled by the opposition that Hindutva is antithetical to religious tolerance and democracy.
Former Pakistani Minister Fawad Chaudhry has also voiced support for opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal multiple times. He has been in the news again recently as he criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the Bharatiya leader and his extreme ideology need to be defeated. Chaudhary reportedly said in an interview with IANS, “India should move ahead as a progressive country, and that is why Narendra Modi and his extreme ideology need to be defeated. Whoever defeats him, whether it’s Rahul ji, Kejriwal ji, or Mamata Banerjee, best wishes to them”, he reportedly said.
Fawad Chaudhry was a federal minister under incarcerated former PM Imran Khan’s regime. He also reportedly said that everyone in Pakistan wanted PM Modi to lose elections and that Bharat’s benefit lies in establishing good relations with its neighboring country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly voiced concerns over extremists from Pakistan expressing support for Bharat’s opposition parties regarding the Lok Sabha elections 2024. He recently remarked in an election rally that “jihadis” across the border are supporting the Congress and the Samajwadi party, thus indirectly appealing for “vote jihad” in the country.
It’s indeed baffling that political leaders of Pakistan would show such ardent interest in orchestrating regime change in Bharat when Pakistan is reeling under its worst-ever economic crisis. To Pakistani establishment’s embarrassment, a prominent Pakistani American businessman recently praised the Bharatiya PM Narendra Modi calling him a “remarkable and a natural born leader”. He also emphasized that PM Modi is not only good for Bharat but for the whole region and the world and added he wished Pakistan too gets a leader like him. “Modi is a remarkable leader. He is a natural-born leader. He is the one Prime Minister who has visited Pakistan in adverse circumstances and risked his political capital. I’m expecting that Modiji will start dialogue and trade with Pakistan”, he reportedly said.
Inflation in Pakistan is at an all-time high, in fact the highest in nearly fifty years, say media reports. One kg of flour now costs 800 Pakistani rupees (PKR) in Karachi as compared to 230 PKR previously. A single roti reportedly now costs 25 PKR, as per media reports. “Inflation has risen as much as 38 per cent, the highest rate in South Asia in recent months. Food inflation has reached 48 per cent, the highest level since 2016, according to Dawn”, says a report by Firstpost.
Pakistani politicians and the army establishment are mired in corruption. There are numerous reports exposing the corruption and money laundering scams of Pakistan’s elite. In 2023, an RTI request exposed the civil and military pensioners of Pakistan living abroad receiving their pensions in foreign currency. “There are as many as 164 pensioners, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( MoFA), who live abroad and receive their pensions in currency other than the rupee. This is in contrast with the reported concerns of retired government servants living in Pakistan who have been complaining of the non-payment of pensions – which they receive in rupees”, says a report in a Pakistan-based publication.
In 2022, data leak from a leading Swiss bank reportedly revealed information about 600 accounts linked to 1400 Pakistani citizens. The leaked account holders included several key politicians and generals, as per media reports.
Pakistan’s economy is indeed in a dire situation; the elite of Pakistan live luxurious lives in the West. It’s the poor of Pakistan which bear the brunt of the corruption of the elite and the jihadi terror machinery nurtured by the country’s political and military establishment.
Instead of asking Pakistan to fix its internal issues and stop shielding terrorists, the opposition of Bharat instead gives lessons to the Bharatiya government to respect Pakistan and not mess up with them.
Bharat hasn’t witnessed even a single major terrorist attack since the Modi government came to power in 2014. Talk about the terror attacks during the previous decades of the opposition rule, the list is endless. 2008 Mumbai attacks, 2001 Parliament attacks, 2005 New Delhi serial blasts, 2006 Varanasi bombings, 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings, 2008 Jaipur bombings, etc., the list is endless.
One shudders to think what would happen to the internal security of Bharat and the safety of citizens if the INDIA bloc were to come to power forming a government at the centre. Perhaps, the biggest achievement of the Modi government during its decade of governance has been its crackdown on cross-border. terror infrastructure. Its aggressive Pakistan policy has to been seen in this context. If the Modi government fawned over Pakistani politicians and state in a manner similar to the likes of Mani Shankar Aiyar, our internal security would have been well compromised today.
