It is said of Pakistani diplomats that the more hardline they were on India, the greater the chance of being favoured by the establishment; Is that why Abdul Basit, former high commissioner to India (2014-17), made this statement two days back on a TV news channel in Pakistan: …
“If anyone casts an evil eye on us, we must not think twice and attack Mumbai and New Delhi. We will see what happens later. If we do not have a choice and the US attacks us… this is an impossibility… but the world must know that if anyone casts an evil eye on Pakistan… it will not have any option but to attack India,” said the diplomat.
Basit is, of course, long retired and may have no connections with the Pakistani establishment, including elements of the deep state, such as the ISI. India’s former high commissioner to Pakistan (2009-13), Sharat Sabharwal, was dismissive of Basit.
As he told StratNewsGlobal, “ Towards the end of his career, he was seen criticising his own colleagues. Abdul Basit is nobody in their system. I don’t think he has any more connections with the establishment.”
But railing against India makes for a lot of brownie points in Pakistan, and Basit may still harbour some ambitions. The interesting part is that Basit threatened India, not in response to any Indian move; it was about a hypothetical attack on Pakistan by the US.
This point gained sudden prominence after US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard told the Senate Intelligence Committee that “Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems, with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our homeland within range.”
Ambassador Sabharwal argues that “This is not the first time Americans have made such statements. I think they have some information that the Pakistanis are trying to develop some longer-range missiles. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that is true, because that is an instrument of blackmail.”
It’s also interesting to note that prior to Gabbard’s assessment, Pakistan had been on a roll with the US. No less than three invitations to the White House for Field Marshal Munir and fulsome praise from President Trump. Even more interesting, the US has not said a word about Pakistan’s defence pact with Saudi Arabia, rumoured to include protection with nuclear weapons.
Saudi analyst Salman al-Ansari said in an interview with Canada’s CBC News that “If the Saudis were to decide to enter with complete force…Iran is going to be the biggest loser because Saudi Arabia will activate its bilateral defence agreement with Pakistan. We can literally say that there is a nuclear umbrella over Saudi Arabia.”
This is something India does not like but maybe powerless to do anything about. Not that India anticipates any conflict with the Saudis, they remain key energy suppliers and a large Indian diaspora lives and works there.
But Pakistan’s irrational Indian obsession makes it an uncertain player. This is how Basit’s observations about targeting India if they were targeted by the US should be seen. There’s no way Pakistan can hope to take on the US, so it settles for striking out at its pet hate, India. It doesn’t help Pakistan, given that India will retaliate, but such is the Pakistani mind space about India that hitting out at India, even if it achieves nothing, is still seen as some kind of victory.
