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Another conflict the world could do without
The 900-mile-odd Pakistan-Iran border has been relatively quiet and has rarely been jolted with missile and drone attacks
Representative Image / X/@AryJeay
The attacks by Iran and Pakistan on either side of their borders ostensibly looking out for terrorist hideouts may not be directly linked to the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East by way of the war between Israel and the Hamas, but is nevertheless posing a headache to governments in South and Central Asia, not to mention to an already jittery environment in the Middle East.
The 900-mile-odd Pakistan-Iran border has been relatively quiet and has rarely been jolted with missile and drone attacks as Iran unleashed a few days ago. The official refrain from Tehran was that the target was the Pakistan based Sunni terror outfit called Jaish Al Adl.By way of retaliation, Islamabad struck holdouts supposedly offering sanctuary to separatist militants, both sides putting out varying casualty figures.
In Washington, the President Joe Biden maintained that the clashes between Iran and Pakistan showed that Iran is “not well liked” in the region even as the White House quickly stated that it did not want to see an escalation.
“As you can see Iran is not particularly liked in the region and where that goes, we’re working on now. I don’t know where that goes”, the President said. “We don’t want to see an escalation clearly in South and Central Asia. And we are in touch with our Pakistani counterparts”, National Security Council Spokesman, John Kirby said, also making the point that the attack on Pakistan was another example of Tehran’s destabilising behaviour in the region.
It is too simplistic to see the attack by Iran and the response by Pakistan in the framework of “likes” and “dislikes”. President Biden and his administration see their dislike of Iran in the context of the role played by that country in the support to the Hamas, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza, militarily propping up the Hezbollah in Lebanon and the attacks in the Red Sea on commercial shipping by the Houthi rebels of Yemen who are also backed by Tehran.
And Pakistan has always been able to hoodwink successive administrations in Washington on the question of terrorism, always portraying itself as the injured party. But at the start of 2018 President Donald Trump called out Pakistan on its role in the war on terror.
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump tweeted. “They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!"
No one wants to see an escalation of tensions in a region that is already tottering on political and economic insecurity. For the regime in Islamabad to pretend that the minority Shias in that country have not been subject to acts of intolerance—individually and/or to their places of worship—would be as disingenuous as saying that Pakistan does not play host to almost any and every terror outfit condemned in the world. And on top of this, one would haven to factor in the almost daily acts of cross border terrorism against India.
It is not as if the economy of Iran is roaring especially in the context of massive American sanctions, but Pakistan is undoubtedly in a mess, facing its worst times by way of rising inflation, sky-rocketing fuel prices, unemployment, dwindling foreign exchange reserves, and millions pushed into poverty.
The economic crisis has only shadowed growing political instability that is hindering nations and international institutions from coming forward with a helping hand. The attack on sanctuaries on the border with Iran comes in handy as a diversion mechanism, but only hand politicians a bigger cheque they can hardly afford.
Currently Editor in Chief, Dr. Sridhar Krishnaswami was Special Correspondent of The Hindu and Press Trust of India in Washington D.C. covering North America and United Nations.ADVERTISEMENT
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