While Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar, newly promoted to the three-star rank, was named to head the ISI on Monday, it is noteworthy that the announcement was not made by the civilian establishment of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as has traditionally been the case, but through a military statement.
This is further proof of the extent of the control of the Pakistan Army under the leadership of General Raheel Sharif in the affairs of our western neighbour. Within a year of taking office, Prime Minister’s Sharif’s authority has been sought to be systematically undermined by the military side of the governance divide.
For nearly two months, street protests — widely believed to be inspired by the military — have been permitted to cripple the civilian authorities. In the event, by themselves announcing the name of the new ISI chief the Army brass have made clear that the civilian government survives on their sufferance.
The announcement, in effect, was an unofficial declaration of a soft coup that has already occurred in Pakistan. It is also evident, although not surprising, that the Pakistan Army leadership has taken charge of the country’s policy towards India and Pakistan, leaving the civilian authorities to languish on the margins.
In the case of India, the message is that the Army is driving a forward stance on Kashmir. The Pakistani forces were clearly not keen on the scheduled foreign secretary talks between the two countries (and subsequent steps toward normalisation of ties), and therefore insisted on their high commissioner in New Delhi meeting the Kashmir separatists in spite of the reservation of the Modi government.
In contrast, PM Sharif, when he attended the investiture of his Indian counterpart, took the sensibilities of the hosts into account and refrained from indulging the separatists. In the wake of the flood disaster in Kashmir, the Pakistan military seems to have been active by pushing militants into the Valley both to carry out a propaganda war against the government’s — and in particular the Indian Army’s — relief efforts, and engage the Army in firefights.
In the case of Afghanistan, the Pakistan Army has appeared to play a very active and direct role of late, with suspicion spreading that soldiers have been insinuated into Afghanistan in the guise of militants to harass Kabul at a time of western withdrawal.
The vigour of the Pakistan push in Afghanistan has meanings for India, whose presence in Kabul is resented by Islamabad. India’s regional diplomacy seems to have been high on show of late. It needs to be packed with substance. The example of dealing with China is before us.
The government has to make its intentions clear to difficult neighbours while being open to engaging in positive conversations.
