Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-india-kashmir-islamabad-adf83bc6c11057893ab48fadc7a02254
Kashmir is a disputed region in northern India and Pakistan, with both rival states laying claim to the entire region. Violence has erupted across the region over the past twenty years with thousands of civilians, rebels, and government personnel being killed. This geographic dispute goes much deeper between the deep divide caused by British decolonization, religious divisions between Hindus and Muslims, and nuclear power. This lasting violence occurred once again earlier this March.
On March 6, a suspect threw a grenade into a busy market square in Indian controlled Kashmir. It appears that the attack was aimed at Indian military personnel who were patrolling the market. The explosion killed one person and injured dozens. As of now, the assailant has not been identified or arrested, however, Indian officials in Kashmir are investigating the terrifying attack.
Sadly, this tragic violence will continue to occur in the area because of the ethnic and religious differences as well as inflaming the conflict by both the Pakistani and Indian governments. Also, since the resistance to the Indian government is rebel forces, not technically fighting under the Pakistani flag, they are able and will continue to use guerilla and terroristic tactics to fight Indian occupation.
This also demonstrates modern warfare between international powers. Since India and Pakistan both have nuclear weapons they can not fight each other outright as the violence, death, and destruction would be unquantifiable. Therefore, these powers will have to use proxy warfare. According to Indian officials, Pakistan is using this proxy warfare by backing rebels in the Kashmir region who are attacking Indians. Through this proxy warfare, Pakistan maintains the ability to deny the attacks, while simultaneously fighting its rival.
This conflict demonstrates the importance of international institutions like the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in solving border disputes. The ICJ has been used to solve border conflicts in several cases like Nicaragua v. Colombia and Libya v. Chad. Through these international cases, border disputes can be solved with little to no violence, while disputes like the one between India and Pakistan over Kashmir have resulted in violence and destruction. However, this case between India and Pakistan would not be solved by the ICJ because whatever country lost the case would simply refuse to heed the ICJ’s decision as the court has no enforcement powers.
