Critical For India To Keep An Eye On Pakistan's Erratic Behaviour: Lt Gen (Retd) Davar

Pakistan, which has maintained an anti-India stance, is in the grip of acute political chaos and India must closely monitor the neighbouring country's erratic behaviour, said Lieutenant General (retd) Kamal Davar on Sunday.

Despite sharing a common heritage and being compatriots in the freedom struggle against the British, India and Pakistan have had a tumultuous relationship, he said.

“Born from the same womb as mother India, Pakistan has maintained an anti-India stance in all of its political and strategic formulations since India's independence in 1947,” Davar said.

He was participating in a discussion on “Instability in Pakistan and its Impact on India” on the final day of the sixth edition of the Military Literature Festival at the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi.

Davar, the first Director General of the Defence Intelligence Agency and Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defense Staff claimed that Pakistan's policies towards India are myopic and self-destructive.

Unfortunately, the negativity of the two-nation theory has continued to drive their attitudes toward India since 1947. The Pakistani deep state's unbridled powers and insatiable greed are to blame for the majority of the country's internal problems and subsequent instability, he said. 

According to the former Army officer, Pakistan recognises that it cannot halt India's economic progress and rise as a regional and global power.

According to him, Pakistan has been causing terrorist-related problems for India in Jammu and Kashmir as well as other parts of the hinterland, as well as many other forms of cross-border provocations. It is undeniably in the grip of growing insecurity and massive economic problems.

Davar claimed that former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was once a favourite of Pakistan's Army, was now agitating for new elections.

He added that the current Shehbaz Sharif government and the Pakistan Army would prefer to avoid it because Khan is becoming more popular by the day.

Pakistan is now in the grip of acute political chaos and India must closely monitor Pakistan's erratic behaviour, he said.

While the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan was perpetrating a lot of terrorism in Pakistan, Baluch and Afghan people were also hardening their stance against the Pakistan establishment, making the internal security situation there rather precarious, he added.

According to defence analyst Chawla, Imran Khan has been demonstrating his street power and building pressure for early elections since leaving the prime minister's office.

Chawla said that the former Pakistani Prime Minister held 50 ‘Jalsas’ and managed to strike a chord with the masses on three issues, including corruption, which the majority of Pakistanis see as a factor behind the country's economic crisis.

According to Kaushik, a Punjab cadre IAS officer, there is no chance of instability wrapping itself in any way and the Pakistan establishment will not allow Imran Khan to return to power. As a result, insecurity will persist for some time.