India should support Kurdish cause to counter Turkey-Pakistan bonhomie

India is the world’s largest democracy, a regional military power, and a global diplomatic heavyweight. It may also be the world’s only country, besides Cyprus, whose territory two separate countries occupy, claiming sovereignty over them.

China may salami-slice, seizing valleys, building military roads, airfields, and otherwise violating sovereignty from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, but Pakistan’s terror sponsorship may cost more Indian lives, at least in the near term.

Pakistan has a knack for convincing itself India is the aggressor, even as it precipitates wars. Every war it has instigated, it has also lost despite having support from great powers like the US. Alas, by pivoting toward conspiracy and ideology to explain every defeat, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and Pakistani political officials have never reckoned with the fundamental weakness of Pakistan’s army and economy.

It seems history now repeats as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan uses Pakistan to cement his own claim to leadership in the Islamic world. Turkey’s efforts to instigate conflict in Kashmir have grown steadily, not only with direct cooperation and military sales to Islamabad but also with alleged outreach to the terrorist groups Pakistan harbours, like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad. In his first visit to Islamabad in five years, the most significant aspect of Erdogan’s trip was the pledge to supply even more advanced drone technology.

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Pakistani officials may welcome Turkish support in Islamabad’s illegal quest to conquer Kashmir or spark separatism in Punjab, but they should be wary. Turkey views Pakistanis as nothing but construction monkeys and teahouse busboys. On the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, South Asians face suspicion and harassment.

Frankly, Erdogan cares little should Pakistanis and Indians die for his own ambitions, ego, and Muslim Brotherhood-inspired ideology. As far as Erdogan is concerned, he is engaged in a win-win strategy. If Pakistan continues to purchase advanced Turkish weaponry, Erdogan’s family profits due to its links with manufacturers like Baykar. If Pakistan or its proxies either use the weapons against India or if the ISI feels so overconfident in its supposed deterrent that it greenlights further Hamas-style infiltrations and terrorism, then Erdogan can capitalise on incitement.

Quiet diplomacy will not force Erdogan to stand down, nor will he lose interest. For him, inciting Islamism and the necessity to free Muslims from rule by non-Muslims is an ideological imperative. He will no more embrace religious tolerance and accept diplomatic norms than would Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wear a Jewish star and reopen the US Embassy in Tehran.

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The only effective response to Erdogan’s anti-India posturing and his attacks on India’s sovereignty is to do likewise regarding Turkey. India could be the Kurds’ chief benefactor as they struggle to protect their culture, moderate interpretations of religion, and basic human rights against a Turkish state that sees them as subhuman. India might, for example, send arms and advisors to northeastern Syria, where the Kurds have established their most successful state, not as wealthy as northern Iraq but far more democratic. India might also work with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the more liberal of the family groups that dominate northern Iraq, to allow the Kurds to rebuff Turkish incursions. If Kurds had anti-aircraft missiles and counter-drone technology, Erdogan and the Turkish army might be far less prone to aggression.

India might also consider allowing Kurdish political leaders to set up offices in New Delhi or, perhaps, Srinagar. There is precedent: Both Paris and Brussels host similar offices and readily defy Turkish demands that they shutter them. Kurdish headquarters in India are essential so that the Kurds can speak directly to the public and not have Turkey censor their stories or whitewash its own crimes against Kurds as they once did with the Armenians. India could go further, however, and establish an ambassador to Kurdistan to travel from Mahabad in Iran to Kobane in Syria and from Diyarbakir in Turkey to Erbil in Iraq.

For India, a bet on the Kurds would be wise. They are the largest people without a nation. There are three times as many Kurds as either Palestinians or Uyghurs, for example. Even within the confines of states like Iraq and Syria, the Kurds have been successful in creating a framework for civil society. While Palestine might get the press, Somaliland and Kurdistan are the two states most likely to emerge in the coming decades. Most Kurds live in southeastern Turkey or, as Indian diplomats might begin to call it, occupied Kurdistan.

India could be the primary influence upon and benefactor for the Kurds. Linguistically, the closest language to Kurdish is Baluch. Culturally, the Kurds would work productively with India’s sectarian mosaic. Many are Muslims, though largely progressive and Sufi, as opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood and Deobandi extremists that Turkey and Pakistan promote. But the Kurds, like India, are also respectful of religious minorities, be they Christian, Yezidi, Kakai, or others.

It would be cynical and immoral to support Kurds only as a lever to force Turkey to cease encouraging Pakistani terror. Unlike Pakistani proxies seeking to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir, Kurds deserve support on their own merits. The degree of military support, however, could be open to discussion. After all, if both Turkey and Pakistan were willing to live at peace with their neighbours, then there would be no reason for India to provide Kurdish groups with advanced weaponry to defend Kurds. Until that time, however, India should do the right thing. If Turkey and Pakistan can support terrorists to operate in Kashmir, Punjab, and even Kerala, India might openly support democrats to operate in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey.

Michael Rubin is director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.