India and Pakistan have strengthened hostility towards the enthusiastically contested Kashmir region following the massacre of 26 mostly Indian tourists linked by New Delhi with Pakistan.
Pakistan has denied that it was behind the gunman attack on a group of Kashmir tourists on Tuesday. The two sides then escalated tensions by exchanging diplomacy and trade sanctions with one another, increasing the fear of military conflict.
India vows to hunt terrorists at the end of the earth as tensions grow with Pakistan after Kashmir attacks
Below are five reasons why flare-ups between India and Pakistan are important.
Kashmir attacks could lead to an armed conflict between two neighbors
Under intense domestic pressure, India has suggested the possibility of a restricted military strike against Pakistan in response to what is called a “terrorist attack” with “cross-border links.” Pakistan has made it clear that it will respond militarily to the attack.
This fears that escalation from either side could lead to a wider war. The last time the two countries were hit was when a suicide car bombing in Kashmir killed 40 Indian soldiers in 2019.
In 2021, the side renewed a ceasefire agreement along the border. That relatively calm broke after a brief exchange of fire between the troops on Thursday.
Kashmir is the flash point of a nucleus like a bow
India and Pakistan are both armed with nuclear weapons. There is fear that traditional wars and skirmishes between them could potentially turn into nuclear exchanges.
India and Pakistan fought two major wars in 1965 and 1971, but in 1974 India conducted its first nuclear test, raising interest in military conflicts. It caused nuclear races, and Pakistan reached the same milestone in 1998.
A Kashmiri villager woman passes the blown family home of extremist Asif Siek, who says officials are involved in a deadly attack on Pahargam tourists in Mangama village south of Kashmir on Friday, south of India’s controlled Kashmir. (AP Photo/dar yasin)
Since then, India and Pakistan have had one major border skirmish that killed at least 1,000 combatants in 1999. The fighting only ceased after the US intervened.
Disputes can bring China
India and China are geopolitical rivals in 2020 where military forces clashed along the conflict-himalayan border. Since then, relations between the Asian giants have improved, but they still maintain a large number of troops at the border. Their boundary is also adjacent to the Pakistan border, making it the only three-way nuclear junction in the world.
Beijing also manages parts of the Kashmir region, which New Delhi says belongs to India.
Meanwhile, China is also a major ally of Pakistan, helping to advance missile programmes and creating additional military concerns in New Delhi. Meanwhile, India has maintained strong defensive ties with the US, which has long been trying to limit Beijing’s rise in the Indo-Pacific region.
Experts say that conflict between India and Pakistan is unlikely to remain strictly between them, as it is likely that strategic partners will be involved.
Tensions in Kashmir could lead to war over water
In response to the massacre, India has halted the important treaties governing the flow of rivers to Pakistan. Pakistan said it will consider attempts to stop the flow of water from India as “acts of war.”
Under the Indus Water Treaty, India is obliged to freely flow six rivers into Pakistan. India’s restriction through the current could have devastating effects on Pakistan’s agriculture as it fights acute water shortages.
It is also a major environmental issue. Water instability is a major concern in both India and Pakistan, as population and climate change are rapidly increasing.
Attacks by extremists and rights violations in the world of Kashmir Testing
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Rights groups, including the United Nations, have condemned New Delhi for rights violations, including the murder of civilians and arbitrary arrests in India-controlled Kashmir, as a result of the fierce crackdown by Indian forces. It has damaged India’s human rights record and raised concerns that global forces put pressure on New Delhi and it is not enough to hold it accountable.
Extremists fighting Indian rule have killed scores of civilians, including Hindu pilgrims.
India has said it uses military responses to extremists as part of its efforts to eradicate “terrorism,” and threatens the stability of the region.
