Imran’s unveiling of new map fraught with risks for Pakistan

The so-called new political map of Pakistan sounds the death knell for the self-determination movement among separatists in the Kashmir Valley as Islamabad has now co-opted Jammu and Kashmir, leaving no space for either a plebiscite or independent Kashmir. By showing the northern areas of Gilgit-baltistan as part of Jammu and Kashmir, Islamabad’s promise of greater autonomy to this mountainous region stands nullified as the area has been merged with predominantly Sunni regions of Mirpur and Muzaffarabad as also the Valley. The impact of PM Khan’s cartographic hallucination on India-pakistan ties is very significant. By reopening the 1947-48 maps, Pakistan has given up on the bilateralism of the 1972 Shimla Agreement and the 1999 Lahore Declaration -- the two agreements that committed Islamabad and New Delhi to resolving bilateral disputes bilaterally -- and paved a way for unilateralism.

Does Khan’s “Naya Pakistan” also want to give up other bilateral pacts too? Like the bilateral 1960 Indus Water Treaty that allows waters of the f Indus, Chenab and Jhelum to be used by Pakistan while allocating Beas, Ravi and Sutlej waters to India?

It is evident that Pakistan has followed Nepal. It is not mere coincidence that Pakistan and Nepal are allies of Beijing, with the latter pumping in money in the form of infrastructure aid.

Pakistan watchers also see the move as a response to the rise of India in the comity of nations, particularly after Indian troopers stood up to an aggressive People’s Liberation Army in Ladakh. The larger question of how to deal with India is part of regular interlocution between the foreign offices of China and Pakistan.