Kashmir

While Palestine tends to get a lot of coverage, the Kashmir region between Pakistan and India has been an equally troubled area. Tensions there have risen and fallen in recent years (and decades for that matter) but lately there has been some positive signs. This article gives some further hope for resolution in the region.

India could consider Pakistani suggestions for resolving the Kashmir dispute if they are made formally, Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said on Saturday after Delhi announced it was scaling back its forces in the region. Ideas on the future of the divided region floated informally last month by Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf at an Iftar fast-breaking meal included demilitarizing the state, independence, joint governance or some form of U.N. control.

While nothing formal has been proposed, reading between the lines it is quite clear that both sides are open to negotiation and I think they earnestly want to resolve the situation. The Bush administration has put a lot of effort into diplomacy with both Pakistan and India. While certainly a lot of this has been focused on the more narrow goals of the War on Terror, resolving the Kashmir situation has been a major goal as well. By all extrenal signs, progress is being made and I think we can begin to engage in some cautious optimism. From a strategic point of view, resolving Kashmir is probably more important that Palestine. First, the simple fact is that both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and Kashmir has brought them to the brink of nuclear war a few years ago. Second, the Kashmir situation, along with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, are the prime factors behind the radicalization of many of the Pakistani people and in particual the radicalization of Pakistan's ISI (Saudi money caused a lot of this problem as well.) Lastly, a strong peace between Pakistan and India, who depite religious differences, have a lot in common, will put pressure on both Iran and China and help curb any ambitions either of these countries might entertain.