It is time for the international community to pay attention to the Kashmir issue

Bilateral relations between Pakistan and India are currently at perhaps their most fragile point in history since partition.

Diplomatic contacts between the two countries are now at near zero. While India identifies ‘terrorism’ as the main obstacle to the relationship, Pakistan strongly believes that its neighbour is directly involved in its internal instability and terrorism. This huge trust deficit poses a major threat to the long-term security of South Asia.

At the heart of this tension is the unresolved Kashmir issue. New Delhi tried to claim that the Kashmir issue has been resolved by revoking the special status or autonomy of Indian-occupied Kashmir in 2019. But Kashmir is still recognized internationally as an unresolved and disputed territory. The way the two countries engaged in a limited war after the Pahalgam crisis last year proves that the threat of conflict will never go away until this dispute is resolved.

Human rights groups and UN experts have expressed deep concern over the ongoing crackdown in Kashmir and militant attacks on Kashmiri students and workers in various parts of India. Incidents such as custodial deaths, torture and arbitrary arrests have put the security of the people of the region at grave risk. Pakistan has long called for a negotiated solution to the Kashmir issue, but the Indian government has consistently rejected it.

While New Delhi does not favour any third-party mediation in Kashmir, the need for international intervention in the current situation has become undeniable. US President Donald Trump has already expressed his willingness to help resolve the dispute several times.

Last year, he also demanded an end to the war between the two countries. According to political analysts, India may be somewhat flexible to external pressure, as it has shown in stopping buying Russian oil. It remains to be seen whether Trump will take the initiative to resolve this long-standing crisis using his proposed 'Board of Peace' platform.

Source: The Dawn.