Modi’s Kashmir Policy: The Probable Consequence for the Security of South Asia

Abstract

India’s decision to pursue an aggressive foreign policy to subdue Pakistan and its tactic to implement such policy entails a perilous course of action. The dangerous brinksmanship between the states since the last two years along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary could lead to disastrous consequences. The US’s ever increasing cooperation with India and its lukewarm response to Islamabad’s call, is yet another factor, which encourages New Delhi to adopt an offensive behaviour towards Pakistan. Modi’s Kashmir policy has resulted in failure, causing despondency among the people of the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). Modi’s rigid approach towards Pakistan and the people of IOK continues to irk the Indo-Pak relations. India’s absurd policy towards Pakistan has rather compelled Islamabad to resist, which faded the flexibility and goodwill towards New Delhi shown by it during the past ten years. An unresolved Kashmir issue is a historical fact, which cannot be sidelined and ignored for too long. Even a minor miscalculation by India, in pursuit of its foreign policy objectives for undermining Islamabad’s will to resist, could put the entire region in trouble. India and the international community should, therefore, realise that none of the strategies other than ‘dialogue’ involving all the stakeholders would succeed in resolving the long pending issues including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).