(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi: Ghulam Nabi Fai and Adnan Tanriverdi, though hailing from distinct nations and backgrounds - one being an American of Kashmiri heritage and the other a former officer in the Turkish military - are interconnected through a shared purpose: their strategic collaboration with Islamabad and their unified lobbying efforts against India.
Ghulam Nabi Fai, the head of the Pakistan Army-backed Kashmir American Council (KAC), was convicted of spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the United States, serving a two-year prison sentence.
His organisation, masquerading as a lobbying group, has long been a tool for advancing Pakistan's interests, particularly in promoting anti-India rhetoric concerning the Kashmir issue, with US Congress members.
Adnan Tanriverdi, a former chief military aide to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leads SADAT, a defence consultancy that has functioned as a training and logistical hub for jihadists supporting Islamist and Turkish nationalist causes of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).
He also heads the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW), a frontal organisation for SADAT that seeks to extend Turkey's influence across the Muslim world.
Despite their diverse origins and backgrounds, Fai and Tanriverdi are united by their strategic alliance with Pakistan and Turkey respectively, and their coordinated efforts to lobby against India and promote their countries' interests on the international stage.
Despite their distinct backgrounds, Fai and Tanriverdi are united by a common goal: to promote the coordinated lobbying efforts of Pakistan and Turkey against India on international platforms.
Notably, the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW), which asserts it represents NGOs from 40 Muslim nations, has conducted its operations in the U.S. through the Kashmir American Council (KAC), thereby playing a crucial role in lobbying for Islamabad with U.S. Congress members.
These initiatives are particularly evident in both Western and Muslim contexts, where KAC and UNIW strive to shape narratives that are critical of India, especially regarding the Kashmir issue.
An investigation by NordicMonitor revealed that SADAT's previous activities showcased a close collaboration between Fai and Tanriverdi, who frequently convened in Turkey and various Western capitals to discuss joint projects and coordinate global actions, particularly focused on India.
This coordinated lobbying effort underscores the broader strategic alignment between Pakistan and Turkey, driven by their shared objective of challenging India's global standing.
Recognising the implications of this alliance, New Delhi has adopted a measured approach towards Ankara, scaling back trade agreements and limiting market access in response to Turkey's propagation of anti-India narratives.
Under President Erdoğan's leadership, Turkey has emerged as an outspoken supporter of Pakistan, particularly on the Kashmir issue, effectively positioning his government as a key advocate for Islamabad's agenda.
As C. Raja Mohan argues, this stance reflects the continuation of the "Turkish establishment's uncritical embrace of Pakistan," which has remained constant irrespective of whether the secular military or the current Islamist leadership dominated Ankara.
The increasing collaboration between Pakistan and Turkey, particularly through entities like the Kashmir American Council (KAC) and the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW), illustrates the geopolitical strategies at play and explains India's reluctance to extend economic or political goodwill towards Ankara, given its alignment with Islamabad's agenda.
This situation is unsurprising, as Pakistan and Turkey have maintained their relationship based on the concept of“Islamic solidarity,” which has allowed Islamabad to influence Ankara's perception of New Delhi, preventing the pursuit of an independent and mutually beneficial relationship with India in a complex, globalised world.
However, this coordinated anti-India alliance extends beyond NGO-level collaborations involving figures like Fai and Tanriverdi; it also encompasses Islamist organisations, individual artists, and academic networks, further entrenching their partnership in efforts to shape global narratives against India.
The Turkish poet and composer Turgay Evren, a pro-Erdogan artist, has frequently been hosted in Pakistan. Much of his work is filled with misinformation and emotionally charged rhetoric aimed at inciting animosity towards India, particularly targeting audiences in the Islamic world and the West.
For instance, in his song "Kashmir is my name," the lyrics proclaim, "Kashmir, is my name, Massacre again and again, Kashmir, death is my fame, Torture, endless torture."
Through powerful visuals, the song manipulates emotions to vilify India while conveniently overlooking Pakistan's role in the violence in the region.
Pakistan, as the primary supporter of the songwriter, has long acted as the purveyor of death, exploiting Kashmir by using its youth as cannon fodder in its proxy war against India.
Indeed, while Kashmir is a song and Kashmir is a name, one cannot ignore the devastation inflicted by Pakistani actions on that once-pristine Valley. The song references "massacres," yet it is essential to remember the atrocities committed by Pakistan-sponsored jihadists - such as the slaughter of innocent villagers in Wandhama, where only a four-year-old child survived, or the massacres in Nadi Marg, Chattisinghpora, and numerous other tragedies that have fractured the social fabric of Kashmir, once a land of Sufis.
The Turkish-Pakistani alliance against India has evolved beyond mere lobbying in Western and Muslim spheres - it has become institutionalised through deepening defense collaborations.
Pakistan's $350 million contract with Turkey's STM for the Agosta 90B Submarine Modernization Project exemplifies this partnership. In 2018, the Pakistan Navy commissioned a fleet tanker built in collaboration with STM, highlighting the robust ties between the two nations.
However, the strategic ramifications are evident - the Pakistan Navy's primary objective is monitoring Indian waters, which have frequently been used for infiltrating terrorists into India, implicating Ankara in indirectly supporting Pakistan's anti-India operations.
The burgeoning defense cooperation between Turkey and Pakistan is exemplified by a 2017 contract for 52 Super Mushshak trainers from Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and a 2018 deal with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the sale of 30 T129 helicopter gunships worth $1.5 billion.
Moreover, Turkey has been transferring drones and drone technology to the Pakistani military in recent years. This development assumes significance as the Pakistani military has increasingly utilised drones to smuggle weapons and narcotics along its border with India, sustaining terrorism and narco-terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir in an effort to foment unrest in the region. These deepening defense ties further solidify Turkey's complicity in supporting Pakistan's antagonistic stance against India.
The strengthening of ties between Pakistan and Turkey, driven by their shared hostility towards India, have evolved beyond mere government-to-government collaboration.
This relationship now encompasses a diverse array of non-state actors who play a crucial role in promoting Islamist ideologies and advancing a pro-Pakistan-Turkey agenda across the West and the Islamic world, with anti-India campaigns serving as a central focus of their endeavors.
These developments underscore the multifaceted nature of the Islamabad-Ankara partnership, which has expanded beyond traditional diplomatic and military spheres to encompass a wide range of actors and interests.
The involvement of non-state entities in this alliance highlights the depth and complexity of the Pakistan-Turkey relationship, as well as the potential challenges in addressing its implications for regional stability and India's security concerns.
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