By Sushil Kutty
India has a great friend in UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who has on a number of occasions held India back from the brink of war with arch enemy Pakistan, thus saving India from total annihilation. This time, too, Guterres has asked both India and Pakistan to exercise “maximum restraint”. The UN Chief seems to be telling India “we read you loud and clear”, the Pahalgam massacre happened but rein in the oats!
Guterres has never been at the receiving end of an AK47 and nobody hostile ever asked the UN Chief to lower his pants! The last time Guterres must have gone on a honeymoon must have been decades ago. And definitely not to a hotspot like the Pahalgam meadow. What’s pertinent is, Guterres’ job is to keep the peace between nations and he’s trying to do so to the extent possible at this dangerous time in world history.
It is also not the first time the UN Secretary General is talking of peace between India and Pakistan. He had done it after the February 2019 Balakot airstrike. Then, it was Pakistan-based Islamic terrorists. Now, too, it is Pakistan-based Islamic terrorists. Guterres asked India to forget and forgive knowing well that India is a sucker for such preaching. Does it matter to Guterres how Hindu Indians were asked to lower their pants and then shot point-blank?
Guterres may or may not be India’s friend but Guterres is definitely Pakistan’s friend. Guterres stepped in after the Modi government abrogated Article 370 and asked India to “exercise restraint” in the face of unrestrained Pakistani aggression. Don’t take any step that will affect the 1972 Simla Agreement, he told India.
Guterres also had a take on India’s Citizenship Amendment Act. He expressed anguish and highlighted the “risk of statelessness for two million Muslims on the basis of CAA”. Guterres is the kind of ‘Goodfella’ Pakistan looks up to and should be rewarded with the Nishan-e-Pakistan, what is Pakistan waiting for?
With Pakistan once again doing its best to set the LoC on fire, Guterres is back to preaching peace. There is no evidence that says Guterres lives in an ivory tower but it would be nice if he was more even-handed. Unfortunately, Guterres is quick with advice for India, but seems to forget that Pakistan is no lilywhite!
Now, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi planning war with Pakistan, Guterres has got another shot at playing world’s top diplomat. Will the UN Secretary General be able to pick up the steel-coated AK-47 bullets to restore peace when it is so very evident that the victims’ families are finding it very difficult to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.
The fact is, the United Nations is a toothless tiger and can’t do zilch to stop wars already raging, forget the one that will break out in a Rafale-second! India’s service chiefs are at breakneck speed to give Pakistan no room to manoeuvre, which is a lovely thought for warmongers!
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met on Monday and the meeting lasted 90 minutes. What transpired wasn’t known immediately as the UNSC chose not to release a statement, pointing to a failure of the meeting to convince Pakistan to apologise for the Pahalgam terror attack or to dissuade India from carrying out its threat of “unimaginable punishment”.
The United Nations is beyond resurrection and redemption. Pakistan called for the meeting and the UNSC called for “restraint and dialogue.” People with their ears to the carpet outside the conference hall, where the UNSC members sat at the “horseshoe table”, heard only two words, “restraint and dialogue.”
Pakistan says progress was made but Modi’s India isn’t giving an inch to this narrative. Instead, the Government of India was issuing directives and advisories to citizens telling them what to do when the war breaks out. Not the least of which was to stock up on candles. Sirens will be heard from New Delhi to North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Sea.
Bottom-line, the United Nations Security Council failed. Modi is with Sun Tzu and the latter has left lots of stuff on war and wargaming. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to be remembered as a commander-in-chief par excellence. Don’t forget Modi is the one who famously said, “This isn’t the era of wars.” That was in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war which continues with unrestrained vigour.
Pakistan is still banking on closed-door consultations. But the war has already begun though India continues to provoke Pakistan to “attack, attack, attack”. Remember India never starts a war, India always ends a war. The ‘Indus Water Treaty’ is drowning in the receding waters of Chenab, the riverbed laid naked to the naked eye. Tensions are at cloudburst point.
The Pakistani media are talking about everything under the sun but about Indus in retreat. Saving Pakistan is saving ‘Indus’. The UNSC did not mention the dire straits of Pakistan’s rivers. For all we know, the UNSC must be fully on India’s side. Greece is the UNSC president for the month of May and Greece is very much an ally. The members sat at the “horseshoe table” and discussed the fate of Pakistan.
The situation is volatile. “We hope for de-escalation,” António Guterres said, claiming he understood the “raw feelings” of Indians but adding “make no mistake: A military solution is no solution.” Guterres should invest in a kayak and head for the Indus to get an idea of “up the creek without a paddle.”Pakistan is right now up the Indus without a paddle and Pakistan’s Indus River System Authority Advisory Committee has vowed to monitor the water levels of its rivers daily. Pakistan’s thirst for cross-border terrorism has landed it in the Indian version of Loch Ness, with god only knows how many lurking monsters. (IPA Service)
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