KASHMIR: INDIA AND PAKISTAN RENEW HISTORICAL HOSTILITIES

This week has seen the renewal of hostilities between two of the Asian subcontinent’s superpowers, India and Pakistan. Both have engaged in military conflicts on three occasions since 1947 when they became independent nations and the latest skirmish, once again over the disputed Kashmir region to which both parties lay claim, threatens the relative stability to which the inhabitants of both countries have recently become accustomed.

The latest threat to the fragile peace pervading the region was allegedly instigated several days ago by Indian troops who are said to have been responsible for the death of a Pakistani soldier in the disputed region. In line with the recent breach of peace, two Indian soldiers have today been reportedly killed and mutilated in what some have referred to as a reprisal attack following from the death of the Pakistani soldier earlier this week.

Both sides have moved quickly to diffuse the potentially combustible situation by urging for calm. Salman Khurshid, India’s foreign minister said: “We cannot and must not allow the escalation of any unwholesome event like this.” He continued: “We have to be careful that forces…attempting to derail all the good work that’s been done towards normalization should not be successful.” The unexpectedly restrained sentiment was seconded by the Pakistan foreign ministry whose statement read: “Pakistan is committed to a constructive, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India.”

Despite the public show of unity being presented by both sides, all eyes continue to be trained towards the direction of Kashmir not least because the ‘tinderbox’ nature of the past and recent history of the region is such that an explosion is only but a matchstick away. Both countries’ possession of nuclear weapons complicates matters further as full scale conflict risks not only engulfing the whole region but the globe as a whole. While both sides have largely respected the militarized Line of Control (LoC) which has until recently been effective as a means of deflating the crisis, it is becoming apparent that a new solution, most preferably of the permanent variety, will need to be devised in due course. Perhaps with UN involvement, a line of patrol could be established with UN helmeted troops manning the same. This proposal, along with the prevailing status quo, i.e. the LoC situation, are merely but temporary solutions and undoubtedly, a long-term solution is required sooner rather than later although the present writer is admittedly at a loss as to what this measure or measures should entail.