Are India, Pakistan Back To Fighting It Out In Kashmir?

Several factors are at work behind the revival of militancy in Kashmir, and the Indo-Pak dialogue is bound to have an impact, analyses Riyaz Wani

- Riyaz Wani

What explains the sudden steep rise in militancy in Kashmir over the last six months? Most reasons refer to the fillip in local recruitment to the militant ranks, neglecting the evolving geo-politics in the region which has effectively put Kashmir on the backburner of international politics. And more crucially the deteriorating India-Pakistan relations following Pathankot airbase attack which has led to the suspension in dialogue and New Delhi’s refusal to talk Kashmir unless Islamabad stops terror and brings the Pathankot and Mumbai perpetrators to book.

Has thus the old tug-of-war between the two countries once again come down to the ground in Kashmir? This is at least the thinking among the militant groups in Pakistan which are advocating resurrection of the old policies aligned to Pakistan’s core interests. The editorial of a recent issue of Alqalam, the online magazine of Jaish-e-Muhammad, puts it bluntly: “There is still time. Pakistan government should return to its forgotten policies. The result of their burial is in front of the country. Pakistan has no option but to resurrect these policies and pursue them with a renewed vigour”.