- But for how long?
India seems not to know what to do with Kashmir. The only thing it seems to be doing with any success is shooting up innocent civilians in Azad Kashmir, which it seems to do day in and day out. However, this pastime, while no doubt pleasing to the Indian security forces in Held Kashmir, does threaten the peace between two nuclear powers, and thus threatens the very survival of the human race, certainly of human civilisation. The Indian state also is unable to provide security, and has ordered out all tourists and pilgrims, allegedly because it fears a terrorist incident at Amarnath, where an annual festival has been going on since July 1st. That none has happened shows the falsity of its claim that Pakistan is at the bottom of the separatist movement. At the same time, India is bringing in another 25,000 troops to add to the 10,000 it has already added to the half million already forming the world’s largest occupying force. India’s inability to control Held Kashmir has led to US President Donald Trump repeating his mediation offer. It has been rejected as much out of hand as his previous one, while accompanied by a visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, but it merely reflects an unwillingness by the rest of the world hostage to a dispute that India claims is bilateral. India’s additional condition, that it will only engage in bilateral talks when it is ready to do so.
India’s use of the bilateralism mantra to avoid talks in this fashion is merely prompting world powers to plunge in. For too long, they have been kept quiet by India being a large market, but now that they themselves are directly at risk, they naturally want to know what can be done to get talks moving. The only way India can maintain bilateralism is by engaging in result-oriented talks which give the Kashmiri people their right of self-determination. Otherwise it is fated to manage something it wants to avoid, which is an opportunity for other powers to play a role in the region.
India should not trust too much trust in President Trump’s friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi helping it avoid talking to Kashmir about Pakistan. President Trump may be prone to error, but not twice.
