Former Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit has stated in a television interview that his nation would bomb Delhi and Mumbai if attacked by the USA. This is the way a vulnerable hostage is threatened in some filmy standoff. According to Basit, Pakistan would be willing to face the consequences ‘afterwards’, probably implying a nuclear war.
The statement has naturally sent alarm bells ringing in the sub-continent. While Basit is not a part of the security establishment in his country, his comment reflects the present condition of the Pakistani psyche. If, in any scenario that develops from the ongoing West Asia conflict the US does end up attacking Pakistan, what would that have to do with India? Basit obviously believes that India is in cohorts with the US and Israel at some level.
It must be noted that a radical mindset has been promoted by the real leader of Pakistan at the present, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir. Having sucked up to POTUS Donald Trump in the most shameless manner, along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in several ways on many occasions, what he has ultimately achieved is a vulnerability to US aggression. He views Pakistan as an upholder of the Muslim cause that divided India and feels obliged to further it by shaping his nation’s policies accordingly. It has been reported that he has even asked Pakistani Shias to live in Iran if they sympathise with that nation. Basit’s threat emerges from this collective psyche that considers it Pakistan’s primary task to destroy India even if it means self-annihilation.
And, in the present, there is really very little that Pakistanis have to live for. Even before the present crisis, the economy was in a shambles. The promotion of terrorism has led to a point where even the establishment has no idea of how many radical groups are in existence and for what causes. There is regional insurrection in Baluchistan, and various factions on the border with Afghanistan that have provoked an ongoing mini-war. Oil and gas reserves will only last a week if the situation does not change, and austerity measures have been ordered. The contrast with India has never been greater. The hate and the envy are reflected in the seemingly outlandish reaction from Basit. As such, it should not be taken lightly by the Indian security establishment. All the necessary precautions should be put in place to deal with the nervous breakdown in progress.
