Kashmir: on the brink of a 'catastrophic' war

Relations between India and Pakistan are 'cratering' in the aftermath of a shocking terror attack in the disputed border region

Demonstrators at an anti-India protest in Muzaffarabad, in the Pakistan-administered region of Kashmir
Demonstrators at an anti-India protest in Muzaffarabad, in the Pakistan-administered region of Kashmir
(Image credit: Farooq Naeem / AFP / Getty Images)

Kashmir has experienced its share of violence over the past 70 years, said Daily Excelsior (Jammu), but last week's massacre in the "idyllic" Baisaran valley was a "grim" new low for the Indian-administered territory. As families and honeymooners relaxed in Pahalgam, one of Kashmir's "most tranquil corners", gunmen from a militant group called The Resistance Front slaughtered 26 people in a meadow, all but one of whom was Indian.

Relations between India and Pakistan are now "cratering", pushing the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of outright war, said Rhea Mogul on CNN (New York). India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, accused Pakistan of organising the attack, vowing to pursue the perpetrators "to the ends of the Earth"; New Delhi then downgraded ties with Islamabad and shut a key border crossing. The two sides have exchanged fire over the "line of control" in the Himalayan territory, and India has taken the unprecedented step of suspending a vital treaty that allows both countries to share control of the Indus River System – a move that Islamabad called an "act of war".

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Modi's long-term goal is to choke off Pakistan's water supply, said The Nation (Lahore), and he happily seized the opportunity last week by withdrawing from the Indus Waters Treaty, which splits control of the rivers flowing down from the Himalayas between India and Pakistan. The Indian PM is "playing with fire": 80% of Pakistan's irrigated agriculture is supported by that treaty, and if he disrupts that supply and undermines our economic and food security, Pakistan will have no choice but to respond – with possibly "catastrophic" results "for the entire region".

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