Attack on Indian soldiers in Kashmir

BFive Indian soldiers were killed in an attack in the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Tensions between nuclear powers India and Pakistan are now threatening to escalate again. The grenade attack by armed insurgents on a military vehicle came on the same day the Islamabad government announced that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto would travel to India for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in May.

It would be the first high-level diplomatic visit in years. The announcement was taken as a sign of relaxation between the two neighboring countries. However, after Thursday’s attack, which was suspected to be by terrorists with links to Pakistan, the visit is now being called into question.

relationship had relaxed

Most recently, in 2014, the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the inauguration of the then Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Bilateral relations deteriorated as a result of several attacks in Kashmir in 2016 and 2019. In August 2019, the Indian government’s repeal of special rights for the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir led to restrictions on diplomacy and trade between the countries.

Since then Prime Minister Imran Khan was forced out of office a year ago, relations had eased somewhat. In January, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for “serious” talks on Kashmir. Pakistan wants to live in peace with India, Sharif said.

Kashmir is divided into an Indian and a Pakistani administered part. In between lies the so-called Line of Control (LOC). But both countries claim the entire area for themselves. India accuses the neighboring country of supporting the separatists. In addition to India and Pakistan, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan belong to the SCO. SCO Foreign Ministers will meet in Goa, India, May 4-5.