In response to the Pahalgam attack, India launched Operation Sindoor and destroyed many terrorist camps in Pakistan. What should have happened was that the country, which could not deal with terrorism on its own, would have thanked India for this, but the opposite happened. Islamabad started accusing New Delhi of violating Article 51 of the UN Charter. Amidst this tension, countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan started openly showing brotherhood with Pakistan. At the same time, most Muslim majority countries have remained moderate. Know where, what, and why things are changing.
What is the UN Charter, which Pakistan is accusing of violating
About two weeks after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Indian Army launched Operation Sindoor. In this, only terrorist hideouts were destroyed by targeted attacks. But Pakistan got angry at this and started threatening to cite the UN. According to it, the country has violated Article 51 of the UN Charter, due to which Pakistani citizens lost their lives. Reacting to this, India also clarified that this was a measured action and only terrorist camps were targeted.
Right to take action in self-defence
If we talk about the UN Charter, it talks about peace among member countries. But Article 51 clearly states that any country has the full right to self-defence. That is, if the enemy attacks a country, the UN does not say that you should keep quiet. In simple words, this article does not prohibit responding to aggression. That is, whatever we did, we did in our defence. Therefore, this statement of Pakistan is childish.
Why are other countries keeping quiet?
Sometimes the wrong is so wrong that even many sympathisers avoid supporting it. Pakistan’s mistakes are so many that even Islamic countries are unable to justify them. They are even talking about peace, but are shying away from taking Pakistan’s side. The stance of Muslim countries is not decided only on religious grounds, but like others, they also look at diplomatic and economic benefits.
In Asia, Pakistan has been portraying itself as the protector of religion for a long time. Due to this, many countries have helped it. But its attitude has been to dig a hole in its plate. It has been constantly interfering in Afghanistan and Iran. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been heavily funding Pakistan, but now they are also cautious in standing on the same platform with this country. India’s relations with both these countries have become stronger at present. In such a situation, they do not want to put anything at stake because of an unstable country like Pakistan.
Secondly, instead of bilateral talks on the Kashmir issue, Pakistan started taking help from terrorist groups. Terrorist organisations like Jaish and Lashkar continued to operate from their soil. In such a situation, its record is so tainted that no country is coming to its direct support.
Then why so much sympathy for Turkey and Azerbaijan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been obsessed with becoming a modern Caliph. He wants his country to become the king of the Islamic world again, like the Ottoman Empire. Pakistan supports this narrative of his. Under this thinking, Turkish leaders have been fanning the Kashmir issue. This obsession with creating problems is to such an extent that they have even spoken about Kashmir in the UN Assembly, whereas this is purely a dispute between India and Pakistan.
The case of Azerbaijan is a little different. It is not a direct supporter of Pakistan, but it is very close to Turkey. In the foreign policy of both countries, there is talk of one nation, two states. Both are similar in language, culture and food. Its association with Pakistan happened during the period of COVID, when in the year 2020, Azerbaijan waged war against Armenia. Islamabad then openly came in support of Azerbaijan. It even started promising military support to it. This connected both countries to some extent. Also, Türkiye is like a bridge between them.