ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hind­utva project can imperil regional peace, warned security experts.

They were speaking at a seminar on ‘India’s Strategic Posture and Implications for Stability in South Asia’ organised by the Centre for International Strategic Studies, Islamabad (CISS), in collaboration with University of Sargodha, a press release said on Wednesday.

Ever since his re-election, Mr Modi has taken a number of brazen steps, including the enactment of a controversial new citizenship law, to marginalise Indian minorities, particularly the Muslims. Protests have erupted in India over the Citizenship Amendment Act, which became a law last week after both houses of Indian parliament approved and then was signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The discussions on these developments in India have so far been from the perspective of anti-Muslim actions by the BJP government. The experts, at the seminar, tried to look at the developing situation from security lens.

Former Senior Strategic Plans Division official Khalid Banuri, speaking on this occasion, said that the rise of ultra-nationalism was a grave challenge to global and regional stability. “Regionally, India’s rising extremism reflected in Hindutva is a dangerous trend and needs to be countered with Pakistan’s aggressive diplomacy sustained over a long period of time,” he maintained.

Recalling the Balakot stand-off, Mr Banuri said that Pakistan’s “proportionate and calculated” response to India’s “failed” strikes demonstrated the capability and will to respond to aggression using conventional means. The response, he contended, also proved wrong the Indian assumption that Pakistan would exercise restraint and not respond.

Director of Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS) Dr Adil Sultan, while discussing the rise of Hindutva in Indian polity, noted that the ominous implication of this dangerous trend was that the Indian leadership was now caught in a “commitment trap”.

Vice Chancellor of University of Sargodha Dr Ishtiaque Ahmed said that unfolding events in India showed that Modi’s policies were based on racism; ethnic and racial exclusiveness; and suppression and victimisation of minorities. He said that Pakistan could be affected by these events.

Executive Director of CISS Amb­a­ssador Ali Sarwar Naqvi in his int­roductory remarks said “the strategic picture in the region remains worrisome as the region experiences intense security competition. From Brasstracks to Cold Start Doctrine, limited str­ikes to surgical strikes, the Indian strategic ambition has been manifest in many shapes and forms”.

Senior Research Fellow at CISS Dr Mansoor Ahmed spoke about the status of the balance of the conventional forces and force modernisation under way in India and Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2019