What causes the current conflict between India and Pakistan?

Recent violence between India and Pakistan marks a long-standing battle in Kashmir, a popular tourist destination located in the foothills of the Himalayas and at the northern end of the Indian subcontinent.

India fired at Pakistan's Punjab and Pakistan-run Kashmir at multiple locations on Wednesday, killing at least 26 locations Pakistani leaders call it an act of war. India said it was the infrastructure used by militants in connection with the killing of at least 26 tourists in Kashmir that were managed by India last month.

A Pakistani official denied that India blamed Pakistan for supporting tourism attacks.

Kenneth MacDonald, a professor of human geography at the University of Toronto, said Kashmir has long been divided by caste, class and religion.

But the land dispute originated from the zoning in 1947, when India and Pakistan gained independence from the United Kingdom.

The “Control Line” established in the 1940s

During the zoning period, the semi-autonomous countries in the region were awarded to India and Pakistan. At that time, Maharaja Hari Singh was the ruler of Jamu and Kashmir State. Despite the majority of the Muslim population being consistent with Pakistan, he chose to join India – a minority India India.

The war of 1947-48 gave Pakistan about one-third of the control of the larger area of ​​Kashmir and led to a military militarized ceasefire border in the middle, known as the “line of control.” Today, both countries claim to be all Kashmir, but each controls part of the sides of the Line of Control, which is not a legally recognized international border.

Armed rebels Kashmir operated by India Having resisted Indian rule, some Muslim Kashmiris supported putting the region completely under Pakistani rule, or becoming an independent country.

MacDonald said many “small conflicts” have occurred in the territory and escalated into full-scale wars in 1965, 1971 and 1999.

But after the escalation of political violence in the 1980s and 1990s, Pakistan began to stop it in 2002 Kashmir Fighters entering India and ban extremist groups.

“The Pakistani government did its best in 2002-03 and was relatively successful,” McDonald told CBC News. However, the “periodic outbreak” continued, especially in 2008, 2016 and 2019, resulting in the violent acts.

Indian Prime Minister angry in 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked India-managed special status in Kashmir in 2019, which restricts autonomy – his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has set new rules that allow outsiders to buy land on the territory.

Both actions angered many Kashmir residents.

MacDonald doesn't think Pakistan was involved in the recent tourism attack, which picked non-Muslims, said the country “had little gained” from supporting insurgents killing civilians in India. But Modi is struggling with the popularity of India, and despite this, he wants to “look strong” in addressing the attack.

India's latest upgrade is considered particularly serious, partly because it has surpassed the villages on both sides of the border, with India launching an attack in Punjab, which McDonald described as “the heart of Pakistan.”

Michael Kugelman, a South Asian analyst in Washington and author of Foreign Policy magazine, could expect a large number of Pakistan’s reactions given the scale of India’s strike.

“We went on strike and fought back, and what happened next will be the worst crisis,” he said.

Countries, including the United States, help curb past conflicts in the region, fearing the consequences of escalation among nuclear-armed countries.

But some fear that the current U.S. administration under Donald Trump will adopt a more isolated attitude that will not be a deterrent as it used to be.

Trump said the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan was “so bad” on Wednesday and urged both sides to stop the violence.