As India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, wrangle over its future, the rest of the world should be paying more attention
The Kashmir conflict has consistently been narrowed to a local and regional issue. The war between the Indian army and Kashmiris has been presented as civil unrest that is being tackled by diplomatic talks. As a result, political leaders around the world have failed to raise concern over the conflict.
US special representative Richard Holbrook for instance, said that the Kashmir issue is an internal matter for India and not one that requires US assistance. This is an unfortunate and regrettable statement that does not take into account the gravity of the conflict and its wider geopolitical impact.
My extensive contacts on the ground in Kashmir have told me of the tortures, abuses, rapes and murders of innocent civilians that continue to pervade Kashmir and have failed to reach our radars due to the Indian government's censorship. Underneath all of the warring between the Indian army and Kashmiris lies a fragile nuclear, economic and political region fraught with terrorist activity.
Ignoring the Kashmir conflict will weaken the Pakistani army's ability to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida in the border region of Afghanistan. At the moment, the Pakistani army is protecting Kashmiris from the curfew and horrific abuses by the Indian army in an effort to maintain stability in the region. As a result, the Pakistani army's efforts are mainly directed at protecting Kashmir and the not the "war on terror".
Given the west's concern that Afghanistan is falling into the hands of the Taliban and the increased number of casualties on Nato's side, it would be in Britain's and indeed America's best interests to address Kashmir and give the Pakistani army an extra hand in combating extremists on the Afghan border. If the situation continues to escalate, the promise of leaving Afghanistan will be impossible to keep as Nato will have to count on fewer resources from Pakistan.
Additionally, India and Pakistan's nuclear arsenals pose a considerable threat considering the volatility of their relationship. Over the past few months, the conflict in Kashmir has escalated and erupted in horrific violence and could turn into a hotbed of nuclear attacks.
This possibility will only be reduced if pressure is mounted on India and Pakistan to resolve Kashmir. Given that efforts to deter Iran's president Ahmadinejad from pursuing further nuclear development have failed, it would also be wise to keep nuclear frictions in the region to a minimum wherever possible. The south Asian region is continually changing and held to scrutiny and events in neighbouring and distant countries are both threatening existing relationships and building dangerous new ones.
Stability in the Kashmir region is also essential to the British prime minister's goal of improving economic ties with India, and hopefully Pakistan. Addressing Kashmir will mean that the region will be more economically stable for future partnership with Britain and her allies and future EU investment. Prime minister Cameron has made an important starting point by planning economic ties with India and standing up to gain EU support for trade concessions for Pakistan in the wake of the worst floods in centuries, but in order to truly build long-term sustainability, economically, politically and socially, Kashmir must be spoken for.
The Kashmir conflict poses a geopolitical threat because Pakistan's role in Afghanistan will be hindered, economic ties in the region are likely to remain frail and we cannot idly sit as two nuclear powers fight over Kashmir.
The bottom line about Kashmir is that the unrest in this region is not an isolated event and nor are the consequences of that unrest isolated. No longer can we allow the media and our political leadership to report Kashmir as a minor and regional concern. What seems like a local problem, is actually a global and geopolitical threat.
