Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to face a diplomatic backlash over the controversial Kashmir decision. What's at stake?
The Indian government’s unprecedented decision to strip Kashmir of the last vestiges of its autonomy has left experts wondering what Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to gain.
“I’m at a loss for words to express what’s happening,” says Khalid Shah, a Kashmir researcher at the New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation. “Kashmir will be on the edge for a very long time.”Over the weekend, India deployed thousands of additional troops to the region, citing an unspecified terrorist threat. The reinforcement was sent to beef up the strength of half a million Indian troops that have been stationed in the region for several decades.
New Delhi’s decision, which reverses a 70-year treaty of accession, came weeks after Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won the national election with a sweeping victory. Kashmir, the Himalayan region, has been at the heart of the India-Pakistan conflict since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
“India has made situation difficult for itself. The politicians such as Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti who were willing to work with New Delhi have been sidelined,” says Khalid Rehman, Director General of the Islamabad-based Institute of Policy Studies.
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