Can Pakistan hold a mirror to itself?

Why almost all terror groups across the world find an easy hideout in Pakistan? Whether it's al-Qaeda, LeT, or Taliban, the terrorists of all shades and hues conspicuously establish the fact that Pakistan has eventually become a sanctuary of terrorists. And the recent Operation Geronimo, in which Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist of world, was killed in the garrison town of Abbottabad, contributes to the index of increasing suspicion against Pakistan in nurturing terrorism. Despite the claims of Pakistan's top civilian and military leaders that Abbottabad is just another intelligence failure such as 9/11 and 26/11 terror attacks, the facts remain that a terrorist like Osama, who is being hunted by America for nearly ten years, can sustain for over five years in an unimaginably large mansion, a few hundred yards from the military academy, without constant support from ISI or Pakistan Army seems quite inconceivable. Pakistan's support to breeding and nurturing terrorism is also evident from the deliberate act of avoiding India's request to handover the perpetrators of Mumbai terrorists attack those are sheltered in Pakistan.

Can Pakistan afford to bear the dangerous repercussions of its own mistakes? Maybe, it can continue as an unholy bedfellow of America in passively supporting the whims and fancies of White House to fight against terrorism in AfPak region, but the way it has displayed its deficit of trust in Osama episode, the future of Pakistan as a permanent ally of America poses many doubts. Pakistan must understand now that the regional equations among the Asian countries are changing very fast, at least for more cohesive trade exchanges in which it has already missed the train. Supporting proxy wars and terrorism would finally reduce Pakistan to a sheer banana republic. Aids of few billion dollars from America can't transform Pakistan to a self-sustained democracy, rather it could act as a boomerang to hijack it's sovereignty as it did in Osama's case. The millions of peace loving people in Pakistan never want their country's leaders to become puppets of the US administration and act as surrogate mothers to the American ideologies on international relations. The time has come for Pakistan to introspect and say no to American pressure on anything and everything that Pakistan has hardly any benefits in long run. America understands that a potential regional balance of power among Asian countries is not only a blow to its superpower tag but also a threat to its strategic interests in global politics. Wake up Pakistan and extend your support for regional peace process and ripe the long-term benefits.

A dangerous cocktail

If a Fox News's report on the clandestine test-firing of a nuclear-capable missile by Pakistan from an undisclosed region, is to be believed, then India shouldn't sit complacent and listen to the lullaby composed by Pakistan. There is something more here, a potentially imminent danger braced up in this part of the world. Pakistan's deliberate distancing from the US and close ties with China for defence partnership is certainly an alarming sign that India shouldn't ignore. Moreover, the tilting of Pakistan towards China is more malignant than that towards the US because for all strategic reasons, the US will support India's interests in international forums. As China is evolving as the most powerful economy in Asia, there are significant threat perceptions for India in the light of geo-strategic locations. China's furthering beyond LAC in all these years is not a good sign either. Moreover, India's moral support to Tibet is considered as an anti-China stance by many Chinese officials. The major fear that China carries stems from the growing Indo-US relations, as both are politically democratic nations and also believe in the similar economic reforms. That said, China perceives a fundamentally potential threat if the neighbor Pakistan hobnobs with either India or the US. And from there evolves the China's strategic game plan, in which Pakistan becomes a natural ally. Though there is no immediate vulnerability from these developments, but India shouldn't bury her head in sand now because the future will anyway be defined from the India's relationship with the US and Pakistan.