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Rising tension between India and Pakistan finally erupted when India launched missiles into Pakistan’s territory, retaliating for a gun massacre on tourists back in April. Pakistan’s leader in response, vow to deliver a robust response. These strikes and promises of retaliation make many in the region in fear of a full scale war erupting, both countries being nuclearly armed. The article gives further detail comparing the militaries of India and Pakistan, strike capabilities, effect of the international community, and ect. There have been flare-ups between India and Pakistan, seen through precision attacks and subsequent reprisals. India was under an immense amount of domestic pressure to respond to the gun massacre from last month, as the victims were Indian citizens. India claimed its armed forces targeted sites used by militants linked to the attacks.
This conflict doesn’t just affect South Asia, but the rest of the world. With the wars escalating in the Middle East, with Israel-Palestine, Iran, ect., the international community is against another conflict exploding in South Asia. The international implications could possibly involve the U.S. and China, even though U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls for the countries to calm down, contrastingly the United Nations Secretary General Antonio GUterres expressed his concerns on Indian Military operation.Historically, the United States maintains a nuanced relationship with both Pakistan and India, but in the past U.S. has favored Pakistan because of the Cold War implications involved. But during the new times of economic competition, especially within Maritime trade routes, this conflict may reach far beyond just South Asia. China’s “String of Pearls” strategy, which involves developing ports and infrastructure connected to Maritime trade routes, which involves Gwadar Pakistan. In contrast, India has a contrasting strategy, “Necklace of Diamonds” going through areas such as Iran and Vietnam. The taking of the side of economic strategy could bleed over into military alliances and tactics, having effects of the dynamic of the India-Pakistan situation.
Both India and Pakistan have a strong sense of nationalism, thus the reasoning for the militaries for the countries being so strong and the strong sense of state identity, in regards to protecting citizens. Nationalism is defined as identifying one’s nation and supporting its political interests to the exclusion/detriment of the interests of others. Nationalism is one of the leading reasons for this historic rivalry and strong sense of protecting one’s country and security. It will be interesting to see how this conflict will progress and the implications of the U.S. and China being involved in association with the economic agreements in place.