India-Pakistan Relations

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Atleast he is admitting that they were from Pak, till now most of Pakistani denying that any Pakistani had connection with 26/11 and taking name of Hafiz Saeed that they keep protecting all the time is a big admission.
 

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Pakistan set to declare India's 'integral part' Gilgit-Baltistan as 5th province

Islamabad: In a move that may raise concerns in India, Pakistan has announced that it is planning to declare the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region as its fifth province.

The Gilgit-Baltistan area is Pakistan's northernmost administrative territory that borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

India also claims the Gilgit-Baltistan area as its own – the map of Jammu and Kashmir features the area as part of India – however, the claim lost its potency after Kashmir became the biggest cause of friction between the two nations.


The Gilgit-Baltistan occupied by Pakistan covers 85,793 sq km and is treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan. It has a regional assembly and an elected chief minister.

The area was divided in 1970 into two: Mirpur-Muzaffarabad (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and the Federally Administered Gilgit-Baltistan (It is also referred to as the Northern Areas).

In 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded the Shaksgam Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan to China in a 1963 border agreement.

The area is significant to both Pakistan and China as the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through the region.


Pakistan's Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada told Geo TV that a committee headed by advisor of foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz had proposed giving the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan.

"The committee recommended that Gilgit-Baltistan should be made a province of Pakistan," Pirzada said on Wednesday.

He also said that a constitutional amendment would be made to change the status of the region, through which the CPEC passes.

Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh are four provinces of Pakistan.

Last year, the then MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup, responding to a question regarding reports that Pakistan is making Gilgit-Baltistan its province, said the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes areas currently under Pakistan occupation, is an integral part of the Union of India.

India has maintained that entire area is its integral part by virtue of its accession in 1947.
 

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Pakistan set to declare India's 'integral part' Gilgit-Baltistan as 5th province

Islamabad: In a move that may raise concerns in India, Pakistan has announced that it is planning to declare the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region as its fifth province.

The Gilgit-Baltistan area is Pakistan's northernmost administrative territory that borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

India also claims the Gilgit-Baltistan area as its own – the map of Jammu and Kashmir features the area as part of India – however, the claim lost its potency after Kashmir became the biggest cause of friction between the two nations.


The Gilgit-Baltistan occupied by Pakistan covers 85,793 sq km and is treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan. It has a regional assembly and an elected chief minister.

The area was divided in 1970 into two: Mirpur-Muzaffarabad (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and the Federally Administered Gilgit-Baltistan (It is also referred to as the Northern Areas).

In 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded the Shaksgam Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan to China in a 1963 border agreement.

The area is significant to both Pakistan and China as the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through the region.


Pakistan's Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada told Geo TV that a committee headed by advisor of foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz had proposed giving the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan.

"The committee recommended that Gilgit-Baltistan should be made a province of Pakistan," Pirzada said on Wednesday.

He also said that a constitutional amendment would be made to change the status of the region, through which the CPEC passes.

Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh are four provinces of Pakistan.

Last year, the then MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup, responding to a question regarding reports that Pakistan is making Gilgit-Baltistan its province, said the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes areas currently under Pakistan occupation, is an integral part of the Union of India.

India has maintained that entire area is its integral part by virtue of its accession in 1947.
So, you didn't officially accepted it's as your part for 7 decades!
:hail::hail:
Still expecting to have any claims.
 

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@Neo Why did it took you 70 years to declare this? Not confident enough?
 

Trinetra

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@Neo Why did it took you 70 years to declare this? Not confident enough?
No they have immense pressure from china for the CPEC project.. but it might benefit India.. Now India's stand will be vindicated that Pakistan never wanted any freedom of kashmir and it was all sham.. so Now even if India releases GB from pakistan occupation then also International forum will be on India's side..
 

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Pakistan set to declare India's 'integral part' Gilgit-Baltistan as 5th province

Islamabad: In a move that may raise concerns in India, Pakistan has announced that it is planning to declare the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region as its fifth province.

The Gilgit-Baltistan area is Pakistan's northernmost administrative territory that borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

India also claims the Gilgit-Baltistan area as its own – the map of Jammu and Kashmir features the area as part of India – however, the claim lost its potency after Kashmir became the biggest cause of friction between the two nations.


The Gilgit-Baltistan occupied by Pakistan covers 85,793 sq km and is treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan. It has a regional assembly and an elected chief minister.

The area was divided in 1970 into two: Mirpur-Muzaffarabad (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and the Federally Administered Gilgit-Baltistan (It is also referred to as the Northern Areas).

In 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded the Shaksgam Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan to China in a 1963 border agreement.

The area is significant to both Pakistan and China as the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through the region.


Pakistan's Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada told Geo TV that a committee headed by advisor of foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz had proposed giving the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan.

"The committee recommended that Gilgit-Baltistan should be made a province of Pakistan," Pirzada said on Wednesday.

He also said that a constitutional amendment would be made to change the status of the region, through which the CPEC passes.

Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh are four provinces of Pakistan.

Last year, the then MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup, responding to a question regarding reports that Pakistan is making Gilgit-Baltistan its province, said the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes areas currently under Pakistan occupation, is an integral part of the Union of India.

India has maintained that entire area is its integral part by virtue of its accession in 1947.
Where is the source of the article, Sire? I don't see such articles in Paki media. Or is it some Indian media with exaggerating headlines for TRP only? If Pak was capable of making it a a province of theirs, they would have done so long ago but they could not. They only have what was given to them by us as a result of blunders by leaders, they can only have as much we allow them to have.
 

Trinetra

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Where is the source of the article, Sire? I don't see such articles in Paki media. Or is it some Indian media with exaggerating headlines for TRP only? If Pak was capable of making it a a province of theirs, they would have done so long ago but they could not. They only have what was given to them by us as a result of blunders by leaders, they can only have as much we allow them to have.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...an-as-fifth-province/articleshow/57647939.cms

http://zeenews.india.com/india/paki...gilgit-baltistan-as-5th-province_1986848.html

http://www.newindianexpress.com/wor...-as-fifth-province-baloch-leader-1581964.html

I think u r staying inside cave.. and have no idea of whats going on outside.. please be updated with news.. this is the recent big news between India and Pakistan..
 

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‘Are there minority movie stars in Pakistan?’ India censures Pak at UN

The United Nations Human Rights Council session on Wednesday witnessed a sharp censure from India against Pakistan for alienation of minority groups and mistreatment of their rights. The scathing attack was preceded by Pakistan criticising India for its treatment towards minorities.


ALSO READ : India slams Pakistan for abetting cross-border terrorism

Highlighting the contrast of the minorities in India and Pakistan, Indian representative Nabanita Chakrabarti said, “In this Council, Pakistan has referred to situation of minorities in India. Minorities in India have been Prime Ministers, Presidents, Vice-Presidents, senior Cabinet Ministers, senior civil servants, cricket team captains, Bollywood superstars. Can the minorities of Pakistan claim even a shadow of this? All they have are blasphemy laws and relentless abuse and violation of their human rights.”

India condemned Pakistan for supporting terrorism and stated that the country should not meddle with India’s internal affairs in any manner.

“The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is part of a pluralistic and secular democracy, where an independent judiciary, an active media and a vibrant civil society guarantee freedoms. In contrast, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is administered by a ‘deep state’ and has become a hub for the global export of terror,” she said.

India highlighted the plight of Hindus, Christians, Shias, Ahmadiyas and other minority groups in Pakistan.

Pakistan had earlier stated that “the repression in Jammu and Kashmir is the most reprehensible manifestation of the flogging of human rights and the unleashing of violence by an increasingly communal and extremist state”.


http://www.newsx.com/world/58707-ar...od-stars-in-pakistan-india-censures-pak-at-un
 

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Relax Monsieur, I was just asking for source of news. I think it's written in forum rules and guidlines to post source of the articles that are posted for good reasons. I was just wondering what excuse will Pak give for Gilgit-Baltistan being not a province till now and suddenly with their decision of making it a Pak province will obviously mean we (our political and military forces) are going to take counter action (hopefully).

Article says, " China's concerns about the unsettled status of Gilgit-Baltistan prompted Pakistan to change its status.". They are definitely thinking of acquiiring our land but they don't have excuses/capability to act upon it.

Besides, I expect a decision like this to make big headlines in Pakistani newspapers. I belive me living in a cave comment was joke of some sort.
 

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UK condemns Pakistan's move to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth province, says it belongs to India

London: The British Parliament has passed a motion condemning Pakistan's move to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth frontier, saying the region is a legal and constitutional part of Jammu and Kashmir illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947.

The motion was tabled on March 23 and sponsored by Conservative Party leader Bob Blackman.

It stated that Pakistan by making such an announcement is implying its attempt to annex the already disputed area.

"Gilgit-Baltistan is a legal and constitutional part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India, which is illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947, and where people are denied their fundamental rights including the right of freedom of expression," the motion read.

It was further noted that the attempts to change the demography of the region was in violation of State Subject Ordinance and the `forced and illegal construction` of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) further aggravated and interfered with the disputed territory.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry has said that Beijing was ready to work with Islamabad to take forward the CPEC to benefit the people of both countries.

The CPEC is a USD 51.5 billion project that aims to connect Kashgar, in China`s western province of Xinjiang, with the port of Gwadar in the Pakistani province of Balochistan.

Baloch political and human rights activists have demanded a special rapporteur in the United Nations to probe gross human rights violations in Balochistan province.

With Pakistan planning to declare Gilgit-Baltistan region as its fifth province, the Baloch leaders have warned Islamabad of serious repercussions stating that this development will only lead to massive resistance by the people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The Gilgit-Baltistan area is Pakistan`s northernmost administrative territory that borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

A committee headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz recommended granting the region a provincial status, reports the GeoNews.

Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh are four provinces of Pakistan.

India has said that any efforts to change the status of Gilgit-Baltistan region will not be acceptable.
 

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Pakistan sentences alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to death

NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Monday sentenced to death Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who was arrested last year on charges of spying.+

"The spy was tried through Field General Court Martial under the Pakistan ArmyAct (PAA) and awarded the death sentence," said Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement.


View image on Twitter


Indian R&AW agent #Kalbushan awarded death sentence through FGCM by Pakistan Army for espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan.


India has consistently acknowledged Jadhav is a retired Indian Navy officer, butdenied the allegation+ that he was in any way connected to the government.



New Delhi has also consistently sought consular access to Jadhav+ , issuing as many as six note verbales to the Pakistan foreign ministry, top government sources told TOI in October.


"India has relentlessly sought access to Jadhav. And we don't believe that he is a spy because had he been one, he wouldn't have been carrying an Indian passport," a source said. Jadhav's Indian passport was in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel.

 
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Sohail Mahmood likely to replace Abdul Basit as Pakistan envoy to India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to appoint career diplomat Sohail Mahmood as its new high commissioner to India in place of Abdul Basit, diplomatic sources said here today.

Mahmood is currently posted as ambassador to Turkey and is expected to arrive in Islamabad next week.

"His appointment to India will be announced once it is formally approved by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who has also the additional charge of foreign minister," sources in the Foreign Office said.

Mahmood would take responsibilities as High Commissioner from early next month if all went according to the plan, according to the sources.

Mahmood will replace Basit who has already completed his three-year tenure in New Delhi.

Basit is likely to be appointed as head of Foreign Service Academy (FSA) in Islamabad.
Basit had earlier threatened to resign after he was overlooked and his junior Tehmina Janjua was appointed as Foreign Secretary but the situation has cooled down.
Initially, it was expected that Basit might go on a long leave after he was called back from New Delhi but now he is expected to join as chief of FSA.
In a related development, Javed Nasarullah, current ambassador to South Korea, is likely to be appointed as new ambassador to Afghanistan.

He will replace incumbent Syed Ibrar Hussain who is being appointed as Special Secretary in the Foreign Office.
 

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SC turns down plea seeking cancellation of Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking cancellation of the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries, India and Pakistan

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking cancellation of the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan while observing that it has found no merit in the plea.

The plea has been filed by a Delhi-based lawyer ML Sharma, who has said that the treaty is unconstitutional.

"Not finding any merit in the PIL of Sharma. We do not want to interfere," an apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar said.

Sharma in his plea urged the top court for cancelling the treaty on the ground that it was not a valid document.

The treaty was signed on September 19, 1960, by India's first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan's President Ayub Khan.

However, Sharma says the treaty is invalid as it was signed by Nehru and Khan, adding that it should have been signed by the President of India.

http://www.news18.com/news/india/sc...treaty-between-india-pak-illegal-1370422.html
 

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SC turns down plea seeking cancellation of Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking cancellation of the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries, India and Pakistan

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking cancellation of the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan while observing that it has found no merit in the plea.

The plea has been filed by a Delhi-based lawyer ML Sharma, who has said that the treaty is unconstitutional.

"Not finding any merit in the PIL of Sharma. We do not want to interfere," an apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar said.

Sharma in his plea urged the top court for cancelling the treaty on the ground that it was not a valid document.

The treaty was signed on September 19, 1960, by India's first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan's President Ayub Khan.

However, Sharma says the treaty is invalid as it was signed by Nehru and Khan, adding that it should have been signed by the President of India.

http://www.news18.com/news/india/sc...treaty-between-india-pak-illegal-1370422.html
We dont need to cancel the treaty.. we just need to utilize our share of water.. with that only pakistan will go dry..
 

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In the days following the execution sentencing of an innocent Indian businessman under false pretexts, the Aman ka Tamasha a-holes are going to be meeting in our Nation's capital, talking shit.
The high profile attendees include known A grade cunts like Mani "I wish I was a Pakistani" Aiyar, Former foreign minister of the Terrorist Islamic Republic Kasuri and the current Pakistani HC to India: Mango Abdul Batshit.
Others include sons of b*tches from the BJP and "civil society".
The madar**** who is organising the event is called Om Prakash Shah
https://in.linkedin.com/in/om-prakash-shah-6a3a2963
Here are some of his other exploits:
http://kashmirglory.com/naqash-sidiqi-hakim-visit-pak-embassy-in-delhi-17446/
http://www.jknewsservice.in/2016/12/09/give-civil-society-a-chance-to-solve-kashmir-problem-shah/
And this one in my beautiful city of Bengaluru:http://islamicvoice.com/october.97/feat3.htm
With the Russians:http://www.kolkata.mid.ru/event_e_118.html

They didn't even call the event off...even as an innocent Indian is being prepped for the Gallows just across the border.
I am disgusted with the GoI.
 

Nicky G

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In the days following the execution sentencing of an innocent Indian businessman under false pretexts, the Aman ka Tamasha a-holes are going to be meeting in our Nation's capital, talking shit.
The high profile attendees include known A grade cunts like Mani "I wish I was a Pakistani" Aiyar, Former foreign minister of the Terrorist Islamic Republic Kasuri and the current Pakistani HC to India: Mango Abdul Batshit.
Others include sons of b*tches from the BJP and "civil society".
The madar**** who is organising the event is called Om Prakash Shah
https://in.linkedin.com/in/om-prakash-shah-6a3a2963
Here are some of his other exploits:
http://kashmirglory.com/naqash-sidiqi-hakim-visit-pak-embassy-in-delhi-17446/
http://www.jknewsservice.in/2016/12/09/give-civil-society-a-chance-to-solve-kashmir-problem-shah/
And this one in my beautiful city of Bengaluru:http://islamicvoice.com/october.97/feat3.htm
With the Russians:http://www.kolkata.mid.ru/event_e_118.html

They didn't even call the event off...even as an innocent Indian is being prepped for the Gallows just across the border.
I am disgusted with the GoI.
So true. Even if they don't want to call it off, having BJP members attend is beyond appalling.

Lets face it, our leaders don't care.
 

Tshering22

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So true. Even if they don't want to call it off, having BJP members attend is beyond appalling.

Lets face it, our leaders don't care.
Apparently they are trying all methods to get him back alive.

If this doesn't work, we should activate the havoc we created between 2008 and 2016 in their excuse of a country.

These people won't understand the language of peace.
 

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Who's got better Mango, India or Pakistan?

Probably off topic but I am posting anyway
As per the article below,

Why Pakistan Exports More Mangoes Than India

It's that time of the year again when Pakistani mango nationalists start beating the war drums, raising their claims of mango superiority to decibel levels that cross the noise pollution mark.

The campaign has begun. It's not even May yet. Lies, damned lies and statistics are being used to suggest Pakistani mangoes are better. Looking for foreign approval as always, Pakistanis are tom-tomming export figures that show Pakistan exports more mangoes than India, even though India produces a lot more of them.

Yet the real issue isn't about export numbers. A few million tonnes of exploding mangoes here and there isn't going to end the aams race. It's a more fundamental idea of why the Pakistanis are so eager and desperate to export their mangoes, and India isn't.

It's obvious: Pakistani mangoes aren't delicious enough to be consumed by Pakistanis themselves, so they export them. This is why Pakistan exports more mangoes than India.

Any mango lover will tell you there is no such thing as enough mangoes. The more you eat, the more you want. Mangoes are best eaten from buckets of water, one after another, like chimpanzees eat them. It's criminal to keep count.


You can eat mangoes like there's no tomorrow only if they are good. If they taste and smell like mangoes do. What would Pakistanis know? Hence the exports.

Pakistan's population is less than a sixth of India's, but it produces less than a tenth the number of mangoes India does. Pakistan produced just 1.72 million tonnes mangoes in 2014, India produced 18.43 million tonnes. You can do the per capita math. Despite such a shortfall, Pakistan chooses to export its mangoes in large numbers. What does that tell you? Pakistanis don't want their own mangoes!

As part of their conspiracy to defame Indian mangoes, Pakistan has even begun exporting some Pakistani mangoes to India. Which makes you wonder where the Shiv Sena is when you really need them. How can India allow counterfeit Pakistani mangoes to destabilises the Indian faith in the king of fruits? If only we could demonetise mangoes to separate the fakes from the tax-paying ones.

Pakistan has 400 varieties of the fruit, India has 1,200. Pakistan's famous Anwar Ratol mango has its roots in the mango orchards of Ratol village in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, three hours from Delhi. The first Ratol tree stands proudly there even today.

To further their mango business, Pakistan has the habit of sending crates of them to global leaders including the Indian president and prime minister, nearly every year, often even when soldiers are firing at each other across the Line of Control. India, a mango superpower, secure in its mango love, rightly does not reciprocate. India produces more than a third of all the world's mangoes.

Mirza Ghalib said mangoes should be sweet and plentiful. Once Ghalib was eating mangoes with his friends. They were throwing away the peels on a street corner. A donkey passing by, took a sniff but turned away without eating the peels. One friend of Ghalib who didn't like mangoes said, "Look Ghalib, even donkeys don't eat mangoes." Ghalib replied, "Only donkeys don't eat mangoes."

Has/Does @Neo @Zarvan @musalman tasted/eats Pakistani mangoes? Think the article is biased on quality of Pakistani mangoes?
 

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This article is echoes what I was saying some days back, world is busy with other things. We can take up some risky operations, which we won't do otherwise.

=======
Why The World Isn’t Talking About Kashmir


Today, the trend lines for Jammu & Kashmir are quite troubling, to say the least.
Nearly a year after Indian security forces killed Burhan Wani, a young Kashmiri militant with a large following, anger hasn’t abated. Tension has risen in recent days after a video surfaced on social media that appeared to depict Indian security forces using heavy-handed tactics against a civilian. On April 24, assailants gunned down a local politician in Kashmir, Abdul Gani Dar. Students have regularly clashed with security forces.
When Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh this week, according to local media reports, New Delhi declined her call for a dialogue process to begin right away, suggesting that such an idea was unrealistic “while there is stone-pelting and militant violence.”
Deepening tensions in Kashmir could further aggravate frayed relations between India and Pakistan. Delhi could denounce Pakistan for orchestrating the unrest, while Islamabad could lambast Indian security forces for their brutalities.
Girl students run for cover as police burst tear gas shells during clashes in the vicinity of Lal Chowk in Srinagar on April 24, 2017. Photographer: S Irfan/PTI)
Girl students run for cover as police burst tear gas shells during clashes in the vicinity of Lal Chowk in Srinagar on April 24, 2017. Photographer: S Irfan/PTI)
In effect, Kashmir has never been a bigger nuclear flashpoint than it is today. And yet, the world has said or done relatively little in response. To be sure, recent tensions have generated banner global news headlines, as well as a scathing New York Times editorial.
Still, on the whole, the international community has paid the simmering Kashmir dispute little to no mind.
A logical question – and certainly one to which Pakistanis incessantly demand an answer – is why.
Three possible explanations come to mind.
America’s Attention Is Elsewhere
First, there are too many other crises convulsing the globe that are perceived by the West to be of more direct relevance. In the United States, the Trump administration confronts a dizzying array of foreign policy challenges, from Russia and Syria to China and especially North Korea.
It’s quite simple: Washington accords the most attention to issues that affect it the most. And Kashmir doesn’t make the cut. Threats to U.S. treaty allies in the Indo-Pacific and concerns about terrorist attacks on U.S. interests register more emphatically on the radar than do concerns about a faraway, localised dispute – even one with nuclear dimensions.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrives at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Paju, South Korea, on April 17, 2017. (Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrives at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Paju, South Korea, on April 17, 2017. (Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg)
Pakistan’s Credibility Deficit
Second, Pakistan, the one major player fervently attempting to attract the international community’s attention, has failed to do so. Several reasons may explain why.
One is that Islamabad lacks regular access to global forums that it can use as a platform to highlight Kashmir for a world audience. On the few occasions when it does enjoy such access – such as at the annual United Nations (UN) General Assembly meetings – its plaintive calls for more focused attention on Kashmir have largely fallen on deaf ears.
Additionally, Pakistan – despite very real progress in counter-terrorism, democratisation, and economic growth – suffers from a global credibility problem. Pakistan is burdened by ugly legacies (read AQ Khan’s sharing of nuclear secrets and Osama Bin Laden’s long stay in Abbottabad) and problematic policies (think Pakistan’s decades-long dangerous dalliance with terrorists).
Consequently, many within the international community are hard-pressed to sympathise with Pakistan’s complaints about Kashmir.
And the few nations willing to formally support Pakistan’s position on Kashmir (hello Beijing) aren’t about to launch global advocacy campaigns on Islamabad’s behalf.
Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, poses for a photograph with Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, in Berlin, Germany. (Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg)
Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, poses for a photograph with Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, in Berlin, Germany. (Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg)
Not A Dispute Many Want To Wade Into
Third, even if the dispute made its way on to the international community’s radar, it’s hard to imagine any country wanting to wade into it. Yes, candidate Trump on the campaign trail and President-Elect Trump in a bizarrely convivial telephone conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif suggested that he welcomed the possibility of mediation. So did Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the UN. But we should treat such pronouncements as conciliatory rhetoric, not statements of intent. They also likely referred more to addressing India-Pakistan tensions in general than to Kashmir specifically.
Given how ugly and messy and complex the Kashmir dispute is, most nations won’t want to touch it with a ten-foot pole.
Great Britain, Russia, the U.S., and any other potential mediator won’t be interested – unless their involvement were framed as trying to get the two countries to talk more broadly, and not about Kashmir. Another factor here – one particularly salient with Washington, given its intention to strengthen relations with India – is not wanting to antagonise New Delhi by opting to formally intervene in a dispute that New Delhi believes is strictly off-limits to outsiders.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, during a meeting in New Delhi on April 24, 2017. (Photograph: PTI /PIB)
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, during a meeting in New Delhi on April 24, 2017. (Photograph: PTI /PIB)
Can the international community’s relative silence on Kashmir also be attributed to deft diplomacy by Delhi to secure the agreement of global actors not to speak up about the issue?
That’s certainly a possibility. However, Indian diplomats posted in the West are already working on many high-priority matters. India’s high-level direct interactions with the Trump administration so far have engaged a full plate of issues, from defense cooperation and the H-1B visa program to a possible trip to Washington by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
We can assume that the relative lack of global attention to the Kashmir crisis has more to do with factors tied to the international community than to any diplomatic lobbying efforts carried out by India.
The takeaway is that the world won’t be clamoring to help ease tensions in Kashmir. This means the world could eventually find itself in a difficult position if the unrest were to increase and explode, and especially if it were to bring India and Pakistan to the cusp of another conflict. Then, at this point, external actors may feel compelled to play the role of a firefighter – to try to defuse tensions and bring a dangerous situation under control.
If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that Washington has excelled when playing the role of crisis manager in the India-Pakistan dispute. Analyses of two recent case studies – the Kargil conflict in 1999 and the border confrontation in 2001 after an attack on India’s Parliament building – demonstrate how U.S. mediation efforts helped de-escalate tensions.
As a general rule of thumb, pre-emptive efforts to forestall conflict are more prudent than reactive, crisis-period interventions. And yet, in recent years at least, the U.S. has managed to pull the latter off relatively well on the subcontinent.
Still, the main conclusion is sobering for those that want Kashmir placed front and centre on international policy agendas.
The international community has stayed on the sidelines, and it’s likely to remain on the sidelines.
Ultimately, Kashmir will have to fend for itself.
In an ideal world, key local stakeholders in Kashmir and authorities in New Delhi would take matters into their own hands and find the right incentives to establish some sort of dialogue that brings a measure of calm.
Sadly, we don’t live in an ideal world. There’s good reason to believe that with neither the international community nor actors in the region willing or able to make a difficult situation better, extended – and deepening – tensions are all but inevitable.
Michael Kugelman is deputy director and senior associate for South Asia with the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.



https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/2017/04/27/why-the-world-isnt-talking-about-kashmir
 

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