The Proxy Trap: How Pakistan's Deep State Undermines Peace With India

News18

27-05-2025

Last Updated:
The Pahalgam attack fulfilled its intent: to derail the fragile prospects for harmony and collaboration between India and Pakistan
A familiar and recurring pattern has once again unfolded in South Asia—every few years, as the region seems poised on the brink of enduring peace, destabilising forces with ties to Pakistan emerge to undermine such progress. Just as the Kashmir valley was settling into a climate of calm, order, and optimism for the future, terrorism resurfaced from obscurity. A firm and appropriate response was delivered. Yet, the attack fulfilled its intent: to derail the fragile prospects for harmony and collaboration between the neighbouring nations of India and Pakistan.
The roots of discord between the two nations predate their very existence. Within months of gaining independence, the neighbouring states engaged in war over the coveted region of Kashmir. Pakistan, unwilling to accept the decision of the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir decided to pursue an independent course, dispatched militias to seize control of the territory. In response, Maharaja Hari Singh appealed to Jawaharlal Nehru for assistance, offering accession to the newly established Indian Union.
The subsequent developments, including United Nations mediation, resulted in a provisional ceasefire line—later formalised in 1972 as the 'Line of Control' (LoC). Pakistan illegally occupied one-third of Kashmir, a position it continues to hold. A further violent conflict broke out in 1965 when Pakistan initiated an incursion across the ceasefire line. The following year, Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistani President Ayub Khan agreed to cease hostilities and pursue peaceful avenues for resolving their disputes.
The 1970s began with a devastating setback for Pakistan, as its eastern region, oppressed under Islamabad's brutal governance, rose in rebellion to demand independence. India, motivated by both humanitarian concerns and strategic interests, supported the liberation movement, culminating in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. In the aftermath, recognising its significant lack of strategic depth and conventional military parity with India, the Pakistani establishment—particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)—revised its security strategy. Pakistan's participation in equipping and training Afghan fighters during the US-led response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan provided it with the necessary framework to pursue this updated approach—proxy warfare.
From the late 1980s onward, Pakistan's military and intelligence establishment fomented armed insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir, resulting in prolonged cycles of violence and radicalisation. Throughout this period, Pakistan leveraged its strategic use of proxy militant groups to retain a veil of plausible deniability. Meanwhile, the imbalance in civil-military relations ensured that any initiative by civilian governments to advance bilateral dialogue was systematically undermined by the military, keen to safeguard its dominant position in national affairs.
At a time when the world viewed India and Pakistan with concern over their newly acquired nuclear capabilities, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to sign the historic 1999 Lahore Declaration. Both nations committed to confidence-building measures, multilateral cooperation, counter-terrorism efforts, nuclear and conventional security, and diplomatic dialogue concerning Kashmir. However, just months later, infiltrators supported by the Pakistani military occupied strategic positions in Kargil, Kashmir, sparking a limited conflict that resulted in the deaths of 527 Indian soldiers. Predictably, this severely undermined the diplomatic gains and intensified Indian distrust of Pakistan.
Once again, India chose to overcome the hostilities and offer the prospect of improved neighbourly relations with Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf, presenting himself as a partner in the US-led post-9/11 'war on terror,' met with Prime Minister Vajpayee at the Agra Summit in 2001, raising hopes for renewed India-Pakistan dialogue. However, within a few months, India endured a horrific attack on its Parliament, which resulted in nine fatalities and was carried out by terrorists affiliated with the Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Between 2004 and 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to achieve comprehensive peace with Pakistan and to reduce the Line of Control (LoC) to 'just a line on a map." Utilising backchannel diplomacy, he engaged with the Pakistani President to develop what became known as the 'Manmohan-Musharraf formula.' This included initiatives such as free movement and trade across the LoC, the historic Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, and the significant 2006 Havana meeting where both parties agreed to establish a joint anti-terrorism institutional framework, among other measures.
However, these efforts were ultimately rendered futile and deceptive when terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, killing over 160 individuals. The sole surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, directly implicated the ISI in his confession, revealing that it had trained him and assisted in selecting targets.
When Narendra Modi extended conciliatory gestures towards Nawaz Sharif upon assuming office as Prime Minister, there was renewed optimism. However, this hope was swiftly dashed when terrorists linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) attacked the Pathankot airbase. Later that year, the same group carried out the Uri attack, resulting in the deaths of 18 soldiers and prompting India to conduct surgical strikes on terrorist camps in Balakot. In the wake of the Uri attack, the 2016 SAARC summit scheduled to be held in Islamabad was cancelled, and the forum has not convened since. The JeM was once again responsible for the horrific 2019 Pulwama attack, which involved a suicide bombing of a CRPF convoy, killing 40 personnel.
The recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 25 Indian civilians and one Nepali citizen, follows a period of marked and sustained decline in terrorism within the Valley. In recent years, Jammu and Kashmir has experienced greater integration with India, notably following the abrogation of Article 370, alongside a surge in tourism, economic opportunities, and developmental initiatives. Consequently, Pakistan's deep state was compelled to intervene in an effort to derail this hopeful progress for both the people of Kashmir and the wider region.
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Any credible peace process between India and Pakistan depends fundamentally on genuine intent and transparency in actions. Pakistan's reliance on proxy terrorist groups as strategic tools undermines not only bilateral dialogue but also broader efforts towards regional cooperation and development, exemplified by the stagnation of SAARC. Pakistan faces a long and challenging journey if it is to change the practices that have caused extensive violence in the region. This journey must begin with a profound transformation of its civil-military relations and a significant reduction of its disproportionately influential and controversial military establishment that supports terrorism.
The writer is an author and a columnist. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views.
tags :
india Pakistan
Location :
New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
May 27, 2025, 18:51 IST
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