Reports have emerged from Indian government officials today of a “gross violation of a ceasefire between India and it’s neighbours Pakistan”. The hotly disputed border of Kashmir has been a source of great tension between the two rival states since the inception of Pakistan as a country. Kashmir was carved between them both after British colonial rule had ended in 1947 and has been the primary factor for skirmishes along the Kashmir border.
India has released details to the media clarifying that five soldiers were killed in a blatant and deliberate act of malice by their Pakistani counterparts, the first such major incident of its kind since the ceasefire was implemented after 2003. Whilst there have been frequent fracas’ in the past, nothing as severe as this has been noted. The Pakistan government has thus far failed to respond to the corresponding claims.
The attack comes on the heels of overtures being made by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recent comments about improving ties. The political stalwart was hoping to initiate a round of peace talks in order to help boost Pakistan’s exports to aid its ailing economy in order to promote political and academic ties too, which have been up and down for over a decade.
India’s spokesman in the Himalayan region that Kashmir lies, Omar Abdullah, of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state has called into question the genuineness of Pakistan’s recent overtures in a series of veiled tweets, questioning their sincerity.
The recent news will come as a bitter blow to moderates on both sides who felt relations were being improved after the 2008 Mumbai siege, which saw 166 people killed supposedly by Pakistani gunmen. It is a claim that the Pakistani government denies after its ISI intelligent services was apparently in bed with these terrorists. Though this is simply all conjecture.
In the Mumbai attack the Pakistani government defended itself stating clairvoyant operations were taking place at the behest of the Indian government to help stoke tensions in the region between its own Muslim populous and Hindus, this was without any credence.
The signs of improvement were very evident with visa restrictions being relaxed simultaneously. This policy were made last December and was definitely crucial in helping both states take the first steps in making a lasting peace between the two nuclear armed nations. Cross-border trade was also on the agenda, though this may have to be put on the back-burner, as this unprovoked attack will require a thorough investigation into it to determine who the guilty party is.
By Haider Ali
