In an undated video that has gone viral on the internet, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan could be seen stressing the need to strengthen the Pakistani Armed Forces in the face of the threat posed by the current Indian regime. Expressing fear over the Modi government, Khan said that India had never had such a government in the last 73 years.
Khan was presumably speaking in a rally when he cautioned this country to the pressing need of strengthening the Pakistani forces as the threat quotient has increased significantly under the Modi government in India.
“Pakistan needs a strong force today because in 73 years, India never had such strong Govt.”
— Squint Neon (@TheSquind) January 8, 2021
CC @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/9L3sv3clZi
“If there’s ever a need to strengthen Pakistan’s Armed Forces, it is now. And why is it needed so? Because in the last 73 years, there has never been a government like the one with have in India today,” Pakistan PM Imran Khan said.
The clip appears to be a part of the 73rd Independence Day reportage broadcasted by the Lahore-based 92 News channel. Khan’s fearful apprehensions about the Indian government underscores the Modi regime’s nationalistic credentials. The misgivings evoked by the current Indian government in Pakistani Prime Minister is grounded in the audacious decisions taken by PM Modi in the last 6 years of his rule.
Modi government irreversibly alters the terms of relationship with Pakistan
Ever since PM Modi came to power, it has shunned the Congress policy of overlooking repeated transgressions committed by Pakistan. It has given a free rein to the Armed Forces along the border and granted them greater autonomy to neutralise Pakistani terrorists trying to infiltrate into India. Arguably, for the first time, Pakistan has been made aware of the consequences it would invite by sponsoring and promoting terror activities in India.
The Modi government did not hesitate to order a Surgical Strike just days after Pakistani terrorists killed about 18 Indian soldiers in Uri sector in 2016. Eleven days after the fateful terror attack, the Indian Armed Forces on 29 September 2016 surreptitiously crossed the Line of Control in the dead of night and conducted surgical strikes against suspected militants in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir.
Three years later in 2019, the Modi government ordered airstrikes at a Jaish-e-Muhammad terror camp, perched deep inside Pakistan. On 14 February 2019, a JeM trained terrorist rammed his explosives-laden car with the CRPF convoy, killing 40 soldiers. Twelve days later on 26 February 2019, Indian fighter jets dropped precision-guided bombs on the JeM terror camp in Balakot, killing somewhere close to 200-300 terrorists.
Months later, the Indian government invalidated Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and paved the way for the longstanding integration of the state with the Indian Union. The move had naturally irked Pakistan and it has been ranting and raving since August 2019 over the annulment of Article 370. But the Indian government has made it amply clear that Pakistan’s protestations won’t change the status quo. Instead, the Modi government has now shifted the conversation from Jammu and Kashmir to the illegally captured territories of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
India has also intensified its efforts in isolating Pakistan through diplomatic channels. It has consistently exposed Islamabad’s patronage to anti-India terrorists on various global forums. India’s relentless efforts have led to the Financial Action Task Force(FATF) placing Pakistan into the grey list for its role of facilitating terror funding. With Islamabad teetering on the edge of an imminent financial collapse, the inclusion in the FATF’s grey list has imposed additional pressure on the Imran Khan government to avert the crisis. It has grudgingly started taking action against the terrorists operating on its soil, in a bid to avoid black-listing from the FATF.