The India-Pakistan Conflict, China and Jammu Kashmir
The latest conflict between India and Pakistan on Kashmir has become an increasingly heated political hotspot in this chaotic world.
On the morning of August 5, Amit Shah, the Indian Minister of Home Affairs and the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, moved two bills to abolish Article 370 of the Constitution to restructure Jammu and Kashmir State.
This is to establish Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory (UT) with a local legislature and Ladakh as a UT without local legislature. Eight hours after the motion moved by Shah, the Indian parliament passed both bills.
This news immediately caused great concern around the world. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry urgently summoned the Indian ambassador on August 5 and condemned the Indian government’s actions, claiming that it would use all options to respond to India’s “illegal” and “unilateral” moves.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint after India revoked Kashmir’s “special status.”
A UN spokesman said that the UN peacekeeping forces deployed in India-controlled Kashmir observed and reported an increase in military activities along the control line.
Bloomberg analyzed that this move by Modi allows the Indian federal government to take full control of police machinery in Jammu and Kashmir. The revoke of Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy has temporarily eased criticism faced by Modi concerning the country’s negative economic news, making it a distraction from the government’s ill-conceived sovereign borrowing plans, slowing growth and rising joblessness.
Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center, believes that India’s sudden move on the Kashmir issue will cause “the risks of violence have risen significantly”.
After revoking the special status granted to Kashmir, India has blocked most of Kashmir’s territories, cutting off all local and foreign communications, including mobile phones, internet and fixed-line telephones, as well as sending troops to the border areas.
The move sparked strong dissatisfaction in Pakistan, which subsequently announced that it would refer the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council and downgrade its diplomatic relations with India, in addition to suspending its bilateral trade with India.
Reuters reported that the Indian government has revoked the “special status” of India-controlled Kashmir, attempting to fully integrate the country’s only Muslim-dominated region with the rest of the country. This is the most impactful move on Kashmir in the past 70 years.
This latest conflicts in South Asia centering around Kashmir involving the two ‘archrivals” with nuclear weapons have caused the geopolitical situation in South Asia to intensify and may even develop into a partial war between India and Pakistan.
Since the Ladakh UT planned by India involves the territory of the western section of the China-Indian border, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that China has always opposed the inclusion of this section into Indian administration, and this position has never changed.
Recently, for China the Indian side has continued to damage China’s territorial sovereignty by unilaterally modifying its domestic laws. The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that such practice is unacceptable and will not prove to be effective.
It is also worth noting that although the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed its position on this matter, China’s ally Pakistan has not solicited help from China, but rather has turned to the United States.
On August 5 local time, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted that, “President Trump offered to mediate on Kashmir. This is the time to do so as situation deteriorates there and along the LoC (line of control) with new aggressive actions being taken by Indian forces”.
We have noticed that in addition to resorting to the United States, the Pakistani government is seeking support from the Islamic world as well.
Khan immediately briefed the leaders of Turkey and Malaysia on the developments in Kashmir to seek help.