Kashmir, the West, and the Misled Dreams of Pakistan

 

Kashmir, the West, and the Misled Dreams of Pakistan

https://rakeshinsightfulgaze.blogspot.com/2025/05/when-facts-meet-fanboys-modis-strike.html

The war between India and Pakistan has flared up again—unnecessary, avoidable, and, once more, deeply unbalanced. It won’t help Pakistan. But it may help Modi shore up political capital at home, taking action at a moment when his government should be facing tough questions about its own role in what happened in Pulwama. Still, this moment demands a broader look at the Kashmir conflict, and more importantly, at how Pakistan has repeatedly been played—by the West, by its own military, and by the false promises of power through war.

Pakistan has, for decades, acted as a pawn in a game designed by others. When the Pakistani ambassador admitted recently that the country had harbored terrorists for the West over the last 30 years, he was telling the truth—but only part of it. The deeper truth is this: Pakistan's military was given the green light by Western powers to sideline its civilian governments, control the state, and pursue regional conflicts under the illusion of strategic alignment with the West.

This wasn’t about helping Pakistan. It was about keeping India in check. That’s the through line. From partition to today, the West’s policies have consistently aimed at stopping India from rising too far, too fast. And Pakistan was the convenient tool.

India wasn’t supposed to progress the way it did. The British may have left, but they didn’t expect India—fractured, impoverished, and recovering from colonial exploitation—to emerge with such intellectual and developmental ambition. But India had a stroke of luck: leadership that understood nation-building.

Nehru focused on education, agriculture, infrastructure, science, health, and diplomacy. He signed peace deals, avoided early wars, and laid the foundation for long-term growth. While Pakistan bought weapons and planned battles, India built dams and launched satellites.

By 1974, India had conducted a successful nuclear test. It had launched Bhaskaracharya into space. And just three years earlier, in 1971, it had helped split Pakistan in two—despite the West arming and financing Pakistan’s military effort. That war wasn’t just Pakistan’s loss; it was a strategic defeat for the West. Their investment didn’t even last 10 days of actual combat.

From that point on, the West wasn’t licking old wounds—they were recalibrating their strategy. India’s rise had caught them off guard, and they were determined not to let it go unchecked.

Today’s Kashmir violence is just the latest excuse. Modi will act, and few will object given the circumstances. But Pakistan needs to be honest with itself. It has spent decades chasing a fantasy, supporting extremist proxies, and letting its military dominate national policy. All while believing that it had Western support for a cause the West never truly endorsed.

What should Pakistan do now? Stop. Not just the fighting, but the delusion. Acknowledge the damage done—not just to others, but to your own people. Admit that chasing Kashmir through violence was never a path to progress. And most importantly, stop being a client state used to destabilize your neighbor.

Go to the UN, not with threats, but with transparency. Say what the ambassador finally began to say. Tell your people the truth: that for too long, your nation was sacrificed to serve foreign agendas. That the army's grip must be broken. That Pakistan will no longer be used to host training camps or wage unwinnable wars.

This isn’t about supporting Modi. It’s not about excusing violence on either side. It’s about understanding the forces that shaped this mess, and breaking the pattern. The Indian army believes it fights on the side of Dharma—that when you're right, you win. That belief has power, and Pakistan should learn from it.

The way forward isn’t through war. It’s through reckoning, reform, and rebuilding—with honesty at the core.