Is Kashmir important for India ? Lets check this out and use our own brains to decide.. :) :) Kashmir is strategically important to India and Pakistan. Kashmir provides Pakistan with much needed waters to irrigate the fertile plains of Punjab. The Indus and its tributaries flowing in from Kashmir comprise the primary source of fresh water in Pakistan. As a result, control of the flow of water in these rivers through dams and canals has been a very important issue for decades. Furthermore, the Silk Route, the primary land link between Pakistan and China passes through Kashmir. This is very significant because China has border disputes with India and is also a major diplomatic and military ally for Pakistan. The Silk route allows China to maintain an aggressive posture towards India, its biggest regional rival. An instance displaying the strategic importance of the Silk Route was when Pakistan reopened the road in 1965. Pakistan handed over complete control of Gilgit, a modern air force base on this route, to China4. This is very important as today Gilgit is the point from which China can penetrate deepest into Indian territory4. This significantly neutralizes the natural security created by the Himalayan range over north India. Interestingly, this move was made only when border tensions erupted between India and China in the 1960’s. The Silk Route also strengthens Pakistan’s relationship and trade with China. There are many other areas in Kashmir that have major geo-political significance. One such area is the Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram Pass. It is the only barrier preventing Pakistani and Chinese forces from linking up in Kashmir4. If Pakistan and China were allowed to link up their militaries at Siachen, India’s national security over the entire northern frontier would be greatly undermined. Such a link up would create a very powerful military force, consisting of India’s two biggest rivals. This force would be capable of joint and potentially decisive military action against India. Additionally, the strategic importance of Kashmir extends beyond South Asia and onto the global stage. The annexation of Kashmir by Pakistan or the creation of an independent state would create a continuous block of potential Islamic fundamentalist regions extending all the way from Morocco to Malaysia. Amongst other things, this would have a detrimental impact on the global strategy in the ‘war on terror’. Kashmir, already somewhat of a harbor for terrorists worldwide could also become a fundamentalist state like Iran and support undesirable activities. According to recent declassified documents, the west also had strategic military interests in Kashmir 6. Some analysts believe that an independent Kashmir, neutral between India and Pakistan, would be dependant on the west due to its land locked nature. This would give the west an opportunity to establish a military presence in the valley, thus enabling it to extend its influence beyond the Middle East to Central Asia and the western border of China. However, another report dismissed the idea as establishing a military base in the valley would be far too expensive and impractical due to the unsuitable terrain. The western nations have also often leveraged Kashmir in their foreign policies with both India and Pakistan. In the 1980’s Pakistan was a major cold war ally for the west and was instrumental in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. India in contrast was largely non-aligned with a bias favoring the Soviet Union. As a result, the west rewarded Pakistan for its support by reversing its stand on the Kashmir issue to support Pakistan after a period of relative detachment from the dispute. It also became more tolerant of Pakistan’s tacit support to cross border violence. In the 1990’s as western relations with Pakistan became strained and the Soviet Union became obsolete, the west became more critical of Pakistan’s support to cross border terrorism. It applied both diplomatic and financial pressure on Pakistan to stop support for terrorist activities. However, more recently, the west has released some pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terrorist organizations in Kashmir. This seems to be in response to Pakistan’s support in the recent ‘war on terror’ and the realization that the Pakistani government may not have as much control over these terrorists organizations as it did a few years ago. Similarly, the western world has also often leveraged Kashmir in its foreign policy with regards to India in order to influence the actions of the Indian government. Therefore, the Kashmir valley has become important to Pakistan, India and world politics in general. Besides its strategic and political importance, Pakistan and India both claim Kashmir because of cultural and social reasons. Kashmir has become ingrained in the minds of both Pakistanis and Indians as the single biggest issue facing the Indian subcontinent. Pakistan has suffered defeats in previous wars with India over Kashmir. Pakistan and India have developed a universal enmity and rivalry extending across all spheres of life. As a result, Kashmir has come to represent very high stakes for both countries in terms of national pride.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 15:23:33 +0000
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