Strikes of Indian artillery would target an inhabited area of Kashmir under Pakistani control. Local sources speak of 11 civilian deaths in the Neelum Valley, a few kilometers from the Pakistani border, but inside the mountainous buffer cut in two by the Control Line, the border de facto between India and Pakistan competing for the region from the 1947 (see report of Online Defense from Kashmir).
Islamabad's response immediately threatened a large-scale war. The Army Chief of Staff, General Sharif, would have warned India not to underestimate the reaction capabilities of the Pakistani Armed Forces; Air Marshal Aman and Admiral Zakaullah, respectively Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Navy, would have added that the forces of Islamabad are ready for a general conflict along all the borders, including the air and naval ones.
India and Pakistan have been competing for Kashmir since independence from the British Empire and have faced each other militarily. Despite the peace process started in the 2004 immediately after the end the war for the Siachen glacier, the clashes on the border have never ceased, with provocations, trespassing and mutual accusations.
The events of the last hours in appearance are not new, but they would fall within the periodical increase in tension between the two countries. Nevertheless, some contingent factors could sharpen the clash, bringing New Delhi and Islamabad to a point of no return. In particular, the creation of the Economic Corridor between Pakistan and China it would have stirred New Delhi, fearing a loss of regional leadership. The construction of 1100 km of highway between the port of Gwadar in Pakistan and the city of Kasghar in China, the modernization of the Karakoram highway between Rawalpindi and the Chinese border and the creation of joint infrastructures, by 2030 will ensure a great boost to the trade between Pakistan and China, with further improvement of bilateral relations.
India, China's historical enemy, with which it has fought part of the Himalayan border with the 1962 war, seems ready for a general escalation.
The difficult economic momentum of New Delhi (strong devaluation of the rupee) and the diplomatic isolation of Islamabad that pays for twenty years of ambiguity in the fight against international terrorism, would be a further stimulus to overthrow the growing internal tensions on Kashmir. Internal propaganda, relying on a theme very dear to each other's public opinion, continues to fuel nervousness.
Indian military maneuvers in the Northern Command are underway while further mobilization of departments is expected Pak.
(photo: Indian Express)
