In this exclusive interview, Atul Aneja, a renowned Foreign and Strategic Affairs Expert, discusses India's bold shift in foreign policy, focusing on the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. Mr. Aneja sheds light on India's new strategic posture in South Asia and what it means for regional security. He also explores the growing global reassessment of Pakistan's role in terror exportation, the implications of India's hardline measures such as shutting down the Attari check post, and visa bans. Could these moves signal a complete de-hyphenation of peace optics from national security in India's foreign policy? Tune in to understand the broader impact of India's evolving stance on peace and security.
#India #IndusWatersTreaty #Pakistan #SouthAsia #NationalSecurity #ForeignPolicy #StrategicAffairs #AtulAneja #GlobalRelations #DiplomaticShift #Terrorism #IndoPakRelations #PeaceAndSecurity #AttariCheckPost #VisaBan
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#India #IndusWatersTreaty #Pakistan #SouthAsia #NationalSecurity #ForeignPolicy #StrategicAffairs #AtulAneja #GlobalRelations #DiplomaticShift #Terrorism #IndoPakRelations #PeaceAndSecurity #AttariCheckPost #VisaBan
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NewsTranscript
00:00hello and welcome as india and pakistan are at loggerheads and
00:30the developments every passing minute every passing hour is making a headline it is imperative it is
00:36important to note what india is doing and what are the repercussions and why india is taking those
00:43steps obviously it is harming pakistan and ways in ways more than just one and many would say that
00:53war is a solution men would say that an attack is a solution but before that the diplomatic offensive
01:00that india has started is also something that is hitting the hitting pakistan where it hurts the
01:06most to decode the matters to understand the impact the long-term impact of the steps taken by india
01:15today we are joined by mr atul aneja he is a foreign and strategic affairs expert and also a senior
01:22journalist mr aneja thank you so much for taking time out from on india you're welcome paket thank
01:28you sir uh mr aneja first things first the much talked about uh suspension of the indus water
01:36treaty it's not just a punitive measure but a signal of a new strategic posture not uh in within india
01:46and pakistan but also in south asian region how do you see this how big a step do you consider this
01:52i think it's a very big step punkage and a step which is going to have very long-term implications
02:01uh obviously uh the indus waters treaty is exceptionally important to india but given
02:12the reliance of pakistan on it i think it's more important to to pakistan than
02:18to india because 80 percent of the waters uh of the six in this six rivers of the indus basin
02:26uh three of them are you know moved to in the direction i i are for uh providing uh
02:35waters to pakistan and which is uh ravi sattalaj and bias are to are for india so on the pakistan side you
02:43have the indus you have the jellum and the channel and uh so but if you see the water flows you find
02:52that uh uh around 80 percent of uh of the indus waters uh india gets about 4.1 41 billion cubic meters
03:04per annum and pass that by 99 billion cubic meters to pakistan so obviously pakistan alliance is much
03:12more on the indus waters uh its agriculture is very very dependent on these waters uh about you know
03:2361 percent of pakistan's population depends on the industries the electricity for example the
03:30tarbila dam mangala dam which is to provide power it comes from here uh so it's it's critically
03:38dependent uh pakistan is critically dependent on these waters uh and so that's taken by by india
03:47of putting the indus waters treaty in abeyance i think that's very important right that you're not
03:53advocating you're not walking up from the treaty but you're suspending the treaty
03:57right because of circumstances which are not in the spirit of the indus waters treaty when it was
04:04negotiated before 1960s uh so so that's why the step is potentially very very important uh right
04:13right yeah absolutely absolutely mr and uh given the fact that uh it is pinching pakistan right from
04:22the announcement and they are terming it as uh an act of war this uh tells uh the gravity of the
04:28situation and the importance of uh the whole indus waters uh talking about uh uh you know there's
04:36these actions militarily and diplomatically do you see global powers especially the west uh finally
04:44finally reassessing their engagement with this uh if i may say terror exporting pakistan well
04:51it's it's not that the west has realized it first time i mean i remember as a as a journalist with
04:56the hindu i covered the kargil war in 1999 and in there was a very strong intervention uh by the
05:04americans at that time yes yes please stop at war and i think their intervention went a long way
05:12a significant way to see the withdrawal of pakistan-backed forces or pakistani troops themselves
05:18from that so it's not that they're not aware of the terror element into it but i think partly
05:26why the rest of the world looks at this region when tensions flare is because both indian pakistan
05:32and nuclear weapon powers and everybody wants a war between nuclear weapon powers because you know
05:39that's off the table and nuclear war so that's why the the the amount of attention to any flare-up of
05:46tensions between india and pakistan because the nuclear dimension attracts the
05:51west and the rest of the world uh very very deeply apart from that is also the fact of the modi
05:59administration in india uh which has been has a reputation of taking forceful actions you saw what
06:05happened uh in the boat airstrike you saw surgical structures cross-border strikes and and that adds another
06:12element to it uh punkash of why the world is very very concerned i wouldn't say even the west uh the
06:19russian president vladimir putin has come in very strongly against the terror attack right even the
06:25chinese have condemned it so you know it's it's it's sort of 360 degrees in when it comes to condemnation
06:31uh of this india has grown uh punkash from what it used to be i'm talking no no no thereafter you know
06:41it's uh after the g20 summit it's sort of playing on the global uh sort of playing field now
06:49uh and therefore stature has has risen much more economies has has grown we are now more than four
06:58trillion dollar economy the potential is huge india is a major pivot in a multipolar world it's a major
07:05pivot in the global system and i'm not surprised uh because the attention this has this has drawn
07:12from the world community absolutely not just uh the west and as you rightly mentioned russia um even
07:20the gulf countries where prime minister was uh in saudi arabia when this happened and uh lo and behold
07:27all the adjoining countries also have expressed solidarity talking about just coming back to that the
07:34gulf countries is important i think that all of them have contemplated unequivally and even countries
07:42like jordan and kuwait and you know they're all very clear on which side of the fence they are i think
07:48that's very but i think there's one more significant element if i may add i think that the kashmiris
07:55themselves is something of a game changer to me because i have covered hazard 93 and otherwise and you
08:01know the situation were very very different in that time i mean the it used to be the entire hillside
08:06is ablaze there would be these videos from moss blaring in the night you know the anti-india
08:12sentiment is so strong and today what's happened after the palgam incident is that kashmiris in
08:18openly against terrorism and i think this is a this is a fantastic change a very very very profound change
08:26which has taken place uh pankaj apart from the international opinion i think
08:30once once you can start a local movement against terror in kashmir i think that is a huge game
08:38changer frankly pakistan has lost the plot uh over here i don't think they expected such a reaction
08:44coming from kashmiris all right absolutely and uh our correspondent there on the ground in pahal
08:51has sent us those visuals and for the benefit of our viewers we will be playing it uh on this show as
08:55well where uh the business houses the small traders are actually uh coming together they are giving
09:02slogans hindustan humara hey thank you so this you are right i mean if uh since you have mentioned it
09:09and i think uh in retrospect then um i think in my 20 years of career in tv haven't seen that haven't
09:16seen that sir no it isn't it is unprecedented and i think this is one big takeaway from otherwise a
09:22very tragic story but if there's a there's a pivotal shift in the valley then this terror game is over
09:30and i can well imagine that you know we are in the threshold of kashmir getting integrated with the rest
09:35of the country with the tunnels coming up you know you all have the zojila tunnel coming up you have two
09:40others coming in landak is getting connected trains are going to start we see the
09:44char bridge already there so the integration of kashmir with the rest of india is going to be a
09:50game changer and frankly once that happens uh pankaj then i'm not sure how people in pok are going to
09:58react what's what dynamics over there if you see kashmir developing and and and prospering
10:06i think then probably we don't need to send our horses to to do the job you know people themselves
10:13would i just i mean anything can happen in that part that geography uh in terms of the anti-pakistan
10:21sentiments which are already there we know semblance of that coming up but i think with with the with
10:27the valley integrating fully with with india uh the sentiment is i'm certain that the sentiment the
10:34pro-india sentiment is going to come over there and frankly pakistan has lost the plot here you know
10:40you know you're you're in this kashmir battle of hearts and minds it's already you can see what's
10:45happening in the valley i suspect this spread further and then uh pankaj if you have this new
10:53tide developing in favor of india how are those seeking independence in in from from pakistan let's
11:00say in balochistan or in sindh going to react i think there's a full new dynamic which has started
11:06with this incident and i would suspect this is going to unroll for a long time and there are
11:13various dimensions you're going to get added to this and we are my hunch is we are getting we are
11:19on the cusp of a very very fundamental change in south asia and specifically in kashmir obviously with
11:27the uh you know significant steps like uh indus water treaty from the pakistani side that they might
11:33be revoking or already have revoked the shimla agreement good for them and uh other than the
11:40visa bans atari check post uh has been uh closed so all these things definitely are uh hinting towards
11:47a major shift uh by a policy shift i would say not just within india and pakistan but also in the
11:54south asian region so one final question uh mr ninja i was uh um hoping to ask you um
12:00um the concept and the issue of uh hindus being targeted uh as a journalist uh when you and i look
12:10at it then obviously it's the uh eyewitnesses account that matters the most and all of them
12:16have mentioned that this was the barbaric act which was uh uh carried out after checking the faith the
12:24religion of the victims how do you see this how what does this tell about that the hindus were
12:34targeted it's been happening you know happening in bangladesh it's happening here itself it's a very
12:39deliberate uh ploy to do that i think they're trapped here as well uh because you know if you
12:47from a national angle you look at in the religious angle you know your anger gets directed in terms of a
12:53religious divide then i think we will be losing the plot because what the what the perpetrators
12:59want is a much deeper divide communal divide between indias and that is the that is not all for that
13:06we should not fall because that is a recipe for a big uh social divides and even from their
13:12perspective breakup of india's you know you so we have to stop this temptation from looking at it
13:18though recognizing that this is a fact hindus need protection i'm not saying that but it is a national
13:26issue i don't think we should fall into into any act or thought which can create divisions within india
13:34because that we need unity at this time of all patriotic forces of any faith and and and and not a
13:42communal divide which is what these terrorists want to drive drive absolutely mr ninja you in the same
13:50breath you mentioned uh you know the kashmir of 90s the charade sharif incident and uh um
13:58much akin to what was the situation there that when uh the loudspeakers would say go back leave your
14:05leave the land or stay here or die obviously kashmir cannot afford and cannot go back uh to that time
14:12and uh do you believe that the steps that the government is taking as of now in all due uh interest
14:19of the situation uh is there something that needs to be done more or something that needs to be emphasized
14:25there you see you uh i can't really comment so much into it because the government has inputs which i don't
14:32have sure i think a graduated response a strong firm but not an eject response and that is what we need
14:41because you ought to have a strategy as to what is the end game you want you do is it just a counter
14:50terror game or is are there deeper that that is something which will define your actions now and for the
14:58foreseeable future what is the strategic objective when we look at pakistan that's the that's the key
15:06incremental steps it depends on the situation frankly to be honest uh pankaj we talked about this
15:12waters treaty but you know in this waters treaty right now we cannot block the waters there is no
15:20i am here to block the waters right um all when it's in evidence what we can do is of course the
15:29quota which is to be available to india that we need to sort of get the entire quota earlier we were
15:35not we would giving part of that to pakistan so that's one uh we have the option of of carrying forward
15:42the the hydroelectric projects on the western rivers which are allowed under the indus
15:47uh river treaty provided there are no dams made to block the waters run off uh the flow of rivers that
15:55you can build hydroelectric projects like the kishin ganga is being done and a couple of others
16:01uh so you know you get the options of that during the abeyance period
16:08but if things go south uh you can graduate but it's a long-term option to be honest
16:14now if you were to really you know a situation arises when you squeeze pakistan and put pressure that
16:21is actually from the naval side i mean it seems to be drastic right now but military you know one
16:27thing which will pinch without going in for an all-out war for the nuclear dimension but suppose there were to
16:36be a blockade of karachi entire lifeline export import
16:42impacted could that be an option or that be an extreme option that's the government has to consider
16:47but there are a range of options uh pankaj which are available and i think we should look at our goals
16:55the idea is to eliminate uh terrorism permanently and what's the best way to do that that's and what is the
17:03strategic goal i think this is this is what will define uh the the concrete tactical steps uh which
17:12the government will will is bound to take for to be honest i don't see india reacting forcefully to
17:19such a huge provocation it should not should not in any way uh you know it can't be 2008 kind of
17:26situation when we had the mobile attacks and we did nothing i mean that's this is this is i think that
17:33phase is over now now the question is that they can have to in promote india's court national interest
17:41and uh whether it it looks spectacular whether it's long term whether it is covert i mean that's a
17:48which which which uh the government uh with all the inputs that only the government has has to decide
17:54absolutely absolutely mr thank you so much for actually speaking to one india sharing your
17:58thoughts and insights there and um the whole world is uh watching what is transpiring between india and
18:05pakistan and yes once and for all this uh terror headache must go away uh because kashmir in its full
18:14glory and bloom uh should not be depriving its own residents of the time that they cherished for that
18:21they wanted for the chosen democratically elected government there and now suddenly this dastardly
18:28act is committed thank you so much mr manager for speaking to one india we'll be in touch thank you
18:34thank you subscribe to one india and never miss an update