On the anniversary of the terrorist attack in Indian Kashmir; context of the current situation in the Middle East

On 22 April, India marked the anniversary of a terrorist attack, one of the bloodiest massacres in recent years. It directly sparked yet another Indo‑Pakistani armed conflict.

On the terrorist attack in Pahalgam

Although one of the offshoots of the terrorist organisation Lashkar‑e‑Taiba, which is mainly based in Pakistan, almost immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, there is still no available evidence of any involvement by Islamabad, although the aforementioned organisation is also a source of problems for the government of Pakistan per se. Immediately in the wake of the attack, the country’s current head of government, Shehbaz Sharif, expressed his willingness to participate in a ‘neutral’ investigation.

But, as it comes across, even in India, the jury is still out on who stood behind the Pahalgam attack and what real goals those ‘someones’ were pursuing. In any case, at the time of composing this very article, nothing was known about the date of a trial based on the results of India’s own investigation. Therefore, let us limit ourselves to a very general assessment of the situation, which would namely reside in the following: this is yet another manifestation of the complex ‘Kashmir problem,’ which dates back to 1947, being rooted in the partition of ‘British India’ into two independent states. And each of the countries formed has since tried to solve the problem in its own way.

New Delhi received expressions of solidarity with the people of India on behalf of the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel. For the first three of them, it was done at the level of their embassies in India. And Israel opted for a statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar, who spoke of ‘an unwavering commitment to deepening cooperation with India in the fight against terrorism, as well as to promoting peace, security, and........

© New Eastern Outlook