Tag: India

Big Three Meet

Over the weekend three members of the BRICS, China, Russia and India, met and discussed the happenings of the day…..

At a summit in Tianjin, eastern China, on Monday, the leaders of China, Russia, and India offered a carefully choreographed show of unity aimed at the West. Cameras caught Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Narendra Modi exchanging handshakes and laughter, with Modi at one point linking hands with Xi and Putin, who represent an alternative world order challenging the US, per the New York Times. The summit was part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which drew over 20 regional leaders and featured speeches that subtly rebuked US foreign policy. Xi urged members to reject “Cold War mentality” and “bloc confrontation,” while Modi endorsed multilateralism and a larger global role for countries like India.

The discussions, coming as the US escalates tariffs on India and tightens its stance toward China and Russia, are seen as a response to Washington’s hardline trade policies, which have nudged India closer to the other two powers. Modi’s warm gestures, including a shared limousine ride and lengthy conversation with Putin, marked a shift from India’s traditionally cautious approach to relations with China and Russia.

While China and India remain at odds over territorial issues, Modi said there was an “atmosphere of peace and stability” between them, per the BBC. India’s economic reliance on the West cannot be easily replaced by Russia, whose economy is weakened by sanctions. But as one analyst tells the Times, “the White House should grasp that its policies will result in other countries looking for alternatives to meet their interests.”

Interesting since China and India have been at each others throats over some deposited border territory….did they make nice?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, on Monday, and told the Russian leader that New Delhi and Moscow should deepen cooperation in “all sectors.”

The comments from Modi are the latest sign that tariffs and other pressure from the US won’t impact India’s import of Russian oil and its trade relationship with Russia in general. In a post on X, Modi shared a photo of himself and Putin in a vehicle en route to their meeting, and said conversations with the Russian leader were always “insightful.”

After the meeting, Modi described the talks as “excellent” and said they discussed “ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in all spheres, including trade, fertilizers, space, security, and culture.”

In Tianjin, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered remarks in which he criticized “bullying” practices, an apparent reference to US sanctions and other economic pressures. Xi, Modi, and Putin briefly huddled together at the summit, and the 10 SCO member states called out the US by name in a joint declaration that condemned the recent US-Israeli war on Iran, which is an SCO member.

The statement said that the SCO states “strongly condemn the June 2025 Israeli and US military aggression on Iran targeting civilian nuclear infrastructure, causing casualties (and) violation of international law and UN Charter principles.” They also strongly condemned “acts causing civilian casualties and humanitarian disasters in Gaza.”

(antiwar.com)

Is it possible that Donny and his silly foreign policy have brought together these partners for mutual security?

Think about that….3 heavily nuked up countries.

The New Cold War is getting hotter?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

India/Pakistan News

Last week old enemies started yet another cross border conflict….a conflict that has been basically going on since 1947 and on occasion becomes deadly….sometimes it appears as if they start these things on a whim….Conflict between India and Pakistan is not rare, with the two countries having periodically engaged in wars, clashes and skirmishes since gaining independence from British India in 1947.

After several days of firing across at each other these two nations have said to have agreed to a ceasefire and a halt to hostilities….

India and Pakistan said they won’t escalate hostilities if the other reciprocates, after they both fired volleys of missiles across their borders. It was the most serious increase in hostilities so far in a conflict triggered by a gun massacre last month that India blames Pakistan for. Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Saturday that his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped any further attacks. However, Ishaq Dar warned that if India launched any further strikes, “our response will follow.” Indian Wing Commander Vyomika Singh told a news conference in New Delhi that her country was committed to “non-escalation, provided the Pakistan side reciprocates.” However, Pakistani ground forces were observed mobilizing toward forward areas, she said, “indicating an offensive intent to further escalation.”

President Trump said the detente is now official. “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed as much from the US side with his own tweet announcing a ceasefire, and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, also made the same acknowledgment. The AP reports that India also confirmed the ceasefire.

Good news right?

Diplomacy has won again, right?

Apparently not so much…..

Not long after India and Pakistan said they had agreed to an immediate ceasefire on Saturday, both nations said the other had violated it. Multiple explosions were heard in two large cities of Indian-controlled Kashmir, the AP reports, and shelling was reported along the border hours after the announcement. “What the hell just happened to the ceasefire?” Omar Abdullah, chief minister of India-controlled Jammu and Kashmir, wrote in posting video of tracer fire and artillery sounds, per the Washington Post. “Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!” Blasts were heard in Jammu, as well, and blackouts followed in both cities.

India’s foreign secretary accused Pakistan of violating the truce, per the New York Times. Vikram Misri told reporters there were “repeated violations of the understanding arrived between the two countries today” and said India would respond strongly. Pakistan’s foreign ministry denied any violations, with a spokesman saying his nation “remains committed to faithful implementation of ceasefire between Pakistan and India” and suggesting India had broken the peace. The clash began Wednesday with India launching airstrikes on Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. It’s the largest military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades, per the BBC.

Looks like the unqualified idiots at State did not do such a good job after all.

 

India/Pakistan: Why Now?

This is not a recent animosity they have been at each other’s throats since 1947/8.

But the question has been why the escalation now?

India and Pakistan have so far managed “to avoid a descent into full-blown conflict,” but the nuclear-armed countries who both lay claim to the region of Kashmir were tip-toeing around it Wednesday, per the Wall Street Journal, following what Pakistan’s president said was “an act of war.” The latest:

  • Operation Sindoor: India on Wednesday said it had carried out “non-escalatory” retaliatory strikes on nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, including training camps, in Pakistan and the Pakistan-controlled area of Kashmir. The country said it chose to act based on intelligence that additional attacks, like the one that killed 26 people in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir last month, were on the horizon.
  • Killing the killers? India claims Pakistan was behind the April 22 attack, which Islamabad denies. “We killed only those who killed our innocents,” said India’s defense minister, Rajnath Singh, per the Guardian. “We have shown sensitivity by ensuring that no civilian population was affected in the slightest,” he added, per Reuters.
  • Pakistan counters: The country’s National Security Committee described the terrorist camps as “imaginary,” while claiming deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, including mosques, per the Guardian. Reuters notes a mosque-seminary in the heart of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, was “badly damaged.”
  • ‘Act of war’: The office of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it was an unprovoked and unlawful “act of war” and that Pakistan’s army had been authorized to undertake “corresponding actions,” per the Guardian. The message from India was that “if Pakistan responds, India will respond,” the outlet notes. But “we are prepared for an all-out war,” Pakistan’s defense minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, tells CNN.
  • Trump comments: The escalation came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the two sides to ease tensions in phone calls with Sharif and India’s foreign minister last week, per the Journal. It’s “a shame,” President Trump said Wednesday of the fighting, adding he hoped it would end “very very quickly.”
  • The significance of the name: The New York Times explains that sindoor, or vermilion powder, is used to designate the marital status of Hindu women: “Married women wear it either in the parting of their hair or on their foreheads, and they wipe it off if they become widowed.” The operation’s name is therefore a nod to the women who lost their husbands in the April 22 attack.

Tensions are high and since both countries have nuclear capabilities this could become dangerous for the nations in the surrounding area.

These are the capabilities of each country….https://www.aa.com.tr/en/info/infographic/45910

If we had a reliable diplomatic corps now would be the time for some intervention on the diplomacy front….but since we do not looks like there will be no attempts to curb the violence by the US.

I will be watching and writing….like I always do…..

Stay tuned….more to come….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ready! Set! War!

Oh crap!  Here we go again….two nuke power countries in a struggle for whatever it is they are actually after.

A Region that has been in conflict for decades and few people pay attention because it does not involve the US and its propensity for war.

The so-called ‘war’ between India and Pakistan over the region of Kashmir has been off and on since 1947 when India and Pakistan was liberated from the heel of England….and it has been off and on since that day.

The reason I am offering up this analysis is because the region has become hot yet again.

India has fired missiles into Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, marking a major escalation between the two nuclear-armed powers.

The attack came amid tensions over the April 22 terrorist attack near the Pahalgam area of Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people. All but one of the victims were Indian tourists.

India blamed the massacre on a group called The Resistance Front (TRF) and accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, which Islamabad has strongly denied.

Early Wednesday morning, New Delhi time, India announced that its forces had struck nine locations in Pakistan and the Pakistan side of the disputed Kashmir region. Islamabad confirmed attacks on five locations: two in Pakistan’s Punjab province and three in Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Pakistan officials have said at least eight people were killed by the Indian strikes. According to AP, one official said a missile struck a Mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab and killed a child.

India claimed that it only struck “known terror camps” and that the attack had been “measured, responsible, and designed to be nonescalatory in nature.” But the missile strikes are the most significant Indian attacks on Pakistani territory in decades. In 2019, India launched airstrikes on an alleged training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, but that attack only targeted one location.

Islamabad is vowing it will respond and has claimed that its forces shot down five Indian fighter jets. “We were fully prepared, which is why India received an immediate and firm response,” said Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.

Pakistani officials also said India has not provided any evidence for its allegations that Islamabad was involved in the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

In response to the news of the Indian attack, President Trump said the violence was a “shame” and that he hoped it would end quickly. “I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time,” he said. “I hope it ends very quickly.”

Indian officials have said they “briefed” Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the attack. Pakistani sources also reported that Rubio spoke with Pakistan’s national security advisor.

Any conflict between India and Pakistan always risks nuclear escalation since both sides have a nuclear arsenal. According to the Arms Control Association, Pakistan is believed to have about 170 nuclear warheads, and India has an estimated arsenal of 164 warheads.

(antiwar.com)

This may mean nothing to the average American but the key words are ‘nuclear escalation’….in case those words do not mean much it is when two countries exchange nuke attacks….got it now?

The missiles early Wednesday struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, according to Pakistani security officials. One of them struck a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed and a woman and man were injured, one official said. The officials, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity, said Pakistan had launched retaliatory strikes, without providing any details.

  • The Pakistani army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, told ARY News that the missiles were launched from within Indian territory and that no Indian aircraft had entered Pakistani airspace. “This was a cowardly attack targeting innocent civilians under the cover of darkness,” Sharif told the broadcaster.
  • “Let me say it unequivocally: Pakistan will respond to this at a time and place of its own choosing. This heinous provocation will not go unanswered,” Sharif said, per the Telegraph. “This temporary happiness that India has achieved with this cowardly attack will be replaced with enduring grief.”
  • India’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that at least nine sites were targeted “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.” “Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that “India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution.” The military said the strikes were part of Operation Sindoor

Right now it is a minor mash-up and as usual there is the inevitable war of words and threats.

We have an idiot in DC and seems to have a taste for conflict…..who will the US side with?

Keep in mind the India is a member of the international bloc known as BRICS….and because of that alliance do you think if a wider war starts will Russia and China come to the aid of India?

If they do jump in on the side of India what will Little Donny and the MAGAt douches do in response?

This could get ugly if calmer heads do not prevail.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That India-Russia Thing

Happy Cinco de Mayo (no it is not a holiday for mayonnaise)

Since Russia invaded Ukraine and the US imposed multiple sanctions against the invader India has resisted joining the sanctions list.

There is a simple reason for that reluctance…..India and Russia have a relationship that goes all the way back to 1955 when the USSR was trying to sure up its standing in the Third World…..plus Russia successfully brokered the deal that ended the Sine-India War of 1962.

The relationship has not been broken in all that time…..and now it has become a major importance because of the Ukraine conflict.

The US has made much of its success in isolating Russia internationally. But that boast is hard to take too seriously when Russia is growing ever closer to the two largest countries in the world. While the world has been watching the “no limits” partnership between Russia and China grow into “a relationship that probably cannot be compared with anything in the world,” Russia has been growing quietly closer to the second largest country in the world.

India has long been a close partner of Russia. In 2009, India and Russia signed the Joint Russian-Indian Declaration of Deepening and Strategic Partnership. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia where the two sides agreed on a number of steps to enhance that partnership.

That partnership did not come apart under US pressure after Russia invaded Ukraine. Despite intense pressure from the US to “take a clear position” against Russia, India has refused to condemn Russia at the UN and has repeated Russia’s call to take “into account the legitimate security interests of all countries.” India has also offered Russia an escape from sanctions by swelling from a country that once imported little Russian oil to a country that now has Russia as its top supplier of oil. India imported $41.56 billion from Russia in the last fiscal year, which is about five times its previous level. Before the war, Russia was India’s eighteenth largest import partner; since the war, Russia has become India’s fourth largest import partner.

And the partnership did not only not come apart, it grew stronger. On September 16, 2022, over half a year after the war in Ukraine began, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “Relations between Russia and India have significantly improved.” He called the friendship “extremely important.” Seven months later, on April 16, 2023, Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the relationship with Russia had not changed, calling it “among the steadiest of the major relationships of the world in the contemporary era.”

The Growing Russia-India Relationship

The BRICS (Brazil,Russia, India, China, South Africa) are resisting the isolation of Russia….that makes those sanctions basically ineffective as has been proven recently.

BRICS is a group that needs watching….their dream is to confront the West and its dominance of markets.

If you would like to learn what BRICS is all about (HA HA  as if)…..

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brics.asp

How will this end?  (He asked knowingly)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

India-China Tensions

India and China have a rich and horrific history……several wars in 1962 and 1967….

For those that prefer visual to reading…..

1962 War…..

https://youtu.be/XDG90jeP2iQ
 
1967 War
https://youtu.be/BYOuqFNGYQs

And now the two countries are chest thumping again…..

As precursors to possible nuclear war go, fistfights and stone throwing aren’t exactly the first things that come to mind.

But along India and China’s long, contested border, that’s exactly what has been happening for the past month, prompting President Trump on Wednesday to offer to mediate what he called a “now raging dispute” between Asia’s two major military powers.

Tensions along the 2,000 mile stretch have been high for decades, with the Indian government reporting more than 1,000 mostly minor incursions by Chinese troops between 2016-18. But hostilities have increased over the last several weeks following large Chinese troop movements into previously Indian-controlled territory.

Here’s what to know about the rising tensions between the world’s two most populous countries.

https://time.com/5843279/india-china-border/

Then Donald the Orange believing that he is some sort of foreign policy genius…he has offered to mediate the two tense countries…..

US President Donald Trump intruded into the tense border standoff between China and India Wednesday with a spurious offer to mediate and even “arbitrate” “their now raging border dispute.”

Announced in a tweet, Trump’s “offer” was a provocation meant to signal to Beijing that Washington is involving itself ever more directly in Sino-Indian relations, and doing so as part of an across-the-board ratcheting up of its strategic offensive against China.

Hundreds of Chinese and Indian troops are currently arrayed against each other “eyeball to eyeball” in at least four places along their disputed border. Beijing and New Delhi have also deployed additional forces and war materiel to forward bases near the border, both to signal their resolve and to acclimatize their troops to the high-altitude Himalayan terrain.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/29/inch-m29.html

This offer by Trump could do more damage than good…..his ideas are not in the vane of orderly policy…..

Trump needs to butt out and let professionals handle the tension and the conflict should it bloom into violence.

AJE is reporting that Chinese troops have entered into Indian lands….not looking good….

On May 5, a scuffle broke out between Indian and Chinese troops at the Pangong Tso lake, located 14,000 feet (4,270 metres) above the sea level in the Himalayan region of Ladakh.

A video shot by an Indian soldier and shared on social media showed soldiers from both nations engaged in fistfights and stone-pelting at the de facto border, known as Line of Actual Control (LAC). The incident, which continued until the next day, resulted in 11 soldiers being injured on both sides.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/tense-india-china-standoff-himalayan-border-escalate-200527120501581.html

Damn!  The last thing this planet needs is another war!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

The Mystic Land Of Chindia

China has been on the rise for decades it is now an economic power as well as a military power…..and on the rise is India….looking to become the same rise star as China.

Could the 21st century give us a new super power with the marriage of China and India…a “Chindia”?

As a foreign policy geek I get to read dissertations from those seeking advanced degrees in international relations……and this one makes some interesting points as the “power” of the US seems to be waning….

A significant global development in the first decade of the 21st Century has been the rise of several nations hitherto not considered key players in the international scene. The following up and coming nations have recently been grouped respectively as BRIC and BASIC: Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC); and Brazil, South Africa, India, and China (BASIC) (Wilson & Purushothaman, 2003). Noticeably, the two nations featured in both these groupings are China and India. China’s and India’s meteoric rise to the global arena, and the sheer magnitude of their populations, has led some scholars to assert that there is an ‘irresistible’ shift of global power toward Asia, dubbing this as the ‘Asian Century’ (Mahbubani, 2008, p. 43). And some scholars have gone so far as to coin the portmanteau ‘Chindia’ to signify the ascendency of these two Asian giants (Ramesh, 2005; Sheth, 2008). In this article, I begin by examining Ramesh’s (2005) and Sheth’s (2008) definitions of the term Chindia. I then proceed to situate Chindia according to classical international relations theory of how global peace and prosperity have been historically attributed to a few strong nations in the world. I then undertake an historical overview of China-India relations, followed by a brief summary of the commonalities and differences between the two nations. Finally, I make an assessment whether Chindia is a dream or a possibility.

Sheth (2008) contended that with the rise of China and India, a fusion may take place between these nations. Hence Chindia may usher in a new world order, replacing the USA:

The Prospect of ‘Chindia’ as a World Power

I am old enough to recall the short armed conflict between China and India, 1962…….and for those not old enough to remember….https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/india-china-war-of-1962-839077-2016-11-21

I have a problem of these two coming to terms with the other…..they have fought before and those issues are not really resolved….so until they are the idea of a super bloc, Chindia, is just wishful thinking.

Plus greed and ambition will prevent these two from being more that acquaintances….at least for now.

Just my thoughts…..

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

India-Pakistan Situation

The age old conflict between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region of the Himalayas is getting hotter and hotter….keep in mind that both these countries have a nuclear capability…..that means they both have bombs in case that statement needed clarification.

Is this new edition of the Kashmiri conflict heading these two into a crisis?

Some think it is heading in that direction….

In August, Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan pledged that he would serve as an “ambassador” for the embattled people of Kashmir, who are besieged by close to a million Indian security forces. And on Friday, he did exactly that, using the world’s largest platform—the United Nations General Assembly— to voice their plight.

Khan excoriated Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and called on the world to prevent a potential “bloodbath” in the disputed territory, where for two months over nine hundred thousand Indian security personnel have imposed a curfew on the Muslim-majority populace. Thousands of civilians, along with hundreds of political leaders, have been arrested.

After Khan’s speech on Friday, Kashmiris took great risk to show their gratitude to the Pakistani leader, coming out on to the streets, setting off firecrackers, and calling for freedom from India. One Kashmiri man told Al Jazeera that he “felt solace” when Khan spoke, knowing that Kashmiris “are not alone.”

New Delhi’s annexation and siege of Kashmir will prove to be strategic blunders. Indian officials and the country’s compliant private media falsely claim that there is “normalcy” today in Kashmir. They also say that the region will see even greater development and investment tomorrow.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/india-and-pakistan-are-headed-towards-crisis-over-kashmir-86071

In case anyone would like to hear the speech to the UN by Khan…then I am here to help..

But in case you do not have the time to watch…let me help out…..Khan basically called for a war over Kashmir…..

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the United Nations on Sept. 29 and threatened to change that. Mr. Khan took the 15 minutes of speaking time allotted him and went nearly an hour, using the entire speech to speak of “jihad” over Kashmir and rail against his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Nehendra Modi. 

“Jihad” is not a word the world wants to hear from a man atop a self-described Islamic republic that owns more than 100 nuclear weapons. 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/3/prime-minister-khan-threatens-nuclear-jihad-over-k/

Then there are those that look into the possibility of some stupid setting off a nuke in this conflict and just what would such an act bring about?

The U.S. and other nuclear powers should rapidly stop nuclear proliferation, researchers at Rutgers University said Wednesday as they released a study showing that a nuclear war between India and Pakistan could kill 125 million people instantly before causing global mass starvation.

Published in the journal Science Advances, the new research shows that rapidly growing nuclear stockpiles in India and Pakistan, which are currently in conflict over Kashmir, could release 16 million to 35 million tons of soot, or black carbon, into the atmosphere if the two countries escalated their standoff into nuclear strikes by 2025.

“Such a war would threaten not only the locations where bombs might be targeted but the entire world,” said Alan Robock, co-author of the study and a professor of environmental sciences at Rutgers.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/03/new-study-warns-india-pakistan-nuclear-war-could-kill-125-million-immediately-then

Nothing good will come from the use of nukes…and yet we are still stockpiling these weapons….India and Pakistan need to settle down and find mutual ground to avoid in stupidity.

I Read, I Wrote You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Kashmir–The Saga Goes On

Not that great rock song from Led Zepplin…..but rather that region in the mountains around China, India and Pakistan…..a disputed land….

Let me go on record as I am not an expert on this region so my limited knowledge comes from reports I read….please if anyone wants to correct anything feel free to jump in…..I will not be offended.

India and Pakistan is at odds over the Kashmir region and then China is sitting on the Northern border of the region and have an interest on who does what to whom…..

India’s ongoing crackdown on once-autonomous Kashmir has fueled a lot of criticism from neighboring Pakistan, and unsurprisingly is also being criticized by Pakistan’s closest regional ally, China.

China’s foreign ministry says that it wants to see India play a constructive role in regional peace and stability, and not take unilateral actions. These comments came as India’s FM flew to China to meet his counterpart related to the upcoming UN Security Council matter.

Pakistan has promised to take the issue of India’s crackdown on Kashmir to the UN Security Council, and is counting on China’s support. The Indian government, however, is warning China to stay out of the matter, saying it should not allow any differences of opinion to become disputes.

That’s likely unavoidable, however, as Kashmir is a huge issue to the Pakistanis, and anything that brings India and Pakistan into conflict will also be a huge issue to China. The Chinese government may have less direct interest in whether India respects constitutional autonomy for Kashmir, but that area is right on their border, and they clearly don’t want to see it flare up, either internally in Kashmir, or into a direct India-Pakistan War.

(antiwar.com)

Moving on to India’s crackdown……

Restrictions over the past eight days have been severe enough that a lot of Kashmiris have been all but confined to their homes. Indian forces went to the extent that reporters said the communications blackout meant some Kashmiris didn’t even know what was going on.

Indian forces expected that the Eid al-Adha holiday would lead to large protests in Kashmir, and in trying to prevent such demonstrations, the military imposed even more severe restrictions, including closing the largest mosque in Srinagar.

Muslims, who are the heavy majority of Kashmir, are allowed to go to mosques for the Eid, but only smaller mosques. The expectation seems to be that the largest, most influential mosque would be used to organize big protests.

(antiwar.com)

This is an article that was written recently and ask a good question….not that I agree but a question that needs an answer…..

It has long been called the most dangerous place in the world. Still, few Americans know anything about the place; nor could they point out the troubled region of Kashmir on a map. Yet for 62 years India and Pakistan have contested for control of the province. In fact, a long-running insurgency there has even been punctuated by at least three inter-state wars between the nuclear armed powers. Now, after India recently revoked Kashmir’s “special status” – essentially annexing the disputed (and Muslim-majority) territory – there might just be another war. Tens of thousands have already been killed over the years; how many more will now die is anyone’s guess.

India: The Next Apartheid State?

The PM of Pakistan just back from the schmooze with Trump decided to do some chest thumping of his own…..

Pakistan is prepared to “fight to the end” over Kashmir if necessary, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Wednesday during a speech from the Pakistani-controlled part of the disputed region.

Khan, who was in Kashmir to mark Pakistan’s independence day, accused India of trying to marginalize and radicalize the region’s Muslims. He also called New Delhi’s move to strip Indian-controlled Kashmir of its autonomy a “strategic blunder” by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

All that editorializing aside…..let us look at a real problem….food shortages…..

Residents of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) were running short of essentials on Tuesday as an unprecedented security lockdown kept people indoors for a ninth day.

India has imposed a near-constant curfew and a communications blackout as it tries to stave off a violent reaction to the government’s decision on August 5 to strip Kashmir of its autonomy.

The reaction to India’s unprecedented move has so far been largely subdued. But anti-India protests and clashes have occurred daily, mostly as soldiers withdraw from the streets at dusk. Though the scale of the lockdown is unprecedented, civil resistance to Indian rule is not uncommon in IHK, and young men have hurled stones and abuse at police and soldiers.

Food running out as IHK under strict lockdown for 9th day

Maybe to help my reader understand….,the UN report on Kashmir would help…

Click to access KashmirUpdateReport_8July2019.pdf

Learn Stuff!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Nuclear Push Shove

With all the problems this silly world has it gets more tense when two nuclear powers confront each other……I am talking about India and Pakistan (Do not forget China) in the Kashmir region of the Himalayas…..

India’s government revoked disputed Kashmir’s special status with a presidential order Monday as thousands of newly deployed troops arrived and internet and phone services were cut in the restive Himalayan region where most people oppose Indian rule. Home Minister Amit Shah announced the revocation amid an uproar in India’s Parliament and while Kashmir was under a security lockdown that kept thousands of people inside their homes. The order revokes Article 370 of India’s Constitution, which the AP reports gives the state of Jammu and Kashmir its own constitution and decision-making rights for all matters except for defense, communications, and foreign affairs. The article also forbids Indians outside the state from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs, and securing educational scholarships.

Critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government see the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers. The announcement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a Cabinet meeting and the government’s top-decision making body on security matters, the Cabinet Committee on Security, which he heads. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim the region in its entirety. Two of the three wars India and Pakistan have fought since their independence from British rule were over Kashmir. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, told a Pakistani TV station that Pakistan will step up diplomatic efforts to prevent the order from taking effect. “India is playing a very dangerous game by changing the status of Kashmir through illegal acts,” he said.

So far the Chinese are not part of this dust up (or are they?)

What is all the hard feelings about?

A short video to help you understand this conflict….

It seems that this conflict never really goes away for when things calm down someone heats it up just as fast.

Pakistan has asked Trump to intervene…..

Tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir have the potential to blow up into a regional crisis and it is the right time for U.S. President Donald Trump to mediate, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday.

Khan’s comments come a day after Pakistan accused India of using illegal cluster bombs, killing two civilians and wounding 11, in the disputed Kashmir region. India denied it had used such weapons.

“President Trump offered to mediate on Kashmir. This is the time to do so as situation deteriorates there and along the LOC(line of control) with new aggressive actions being taken by Indian occupation forces,” Khan said on Twitter, referring to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides the two parts of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

“This has the potential to blow up into a regional crisis,” Khan said.

India’s foreign affairs ministry and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Khan’s remarks.

(Japan Today)

Maybe Pakistan’s new found friendship with Trump gives them some sort of “get out of jail free” card…..I do not think our beloved leader has the props to broker a deal for a peaceful end.

India has made its move…..

Always a restive territory, the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir is expected to see a huge upsurge in disquiet following Monday’s move by India’s Hindu nationalist government to permanently revoke Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted Kashmir broad autonomy.

Under Article 370, Kashmir was allowed almost total self-governance, beyond military and foreign affairs. The revocation not only eliminates this, but will allow Hindu settlers to buy land, permanently settle in Kashmir, and hold local government positions.

This is seen by many as the major point, as India’s government has long struggled with independence ambitions in Muslim-dominated Kashmir, and may believe they can rapidly change the region’s demographics.

Constitutional experts are questioning the legality of this abrupt move, and a substantial legal challenge is expected to the government’s move, which comes amid an ongoing crackdown in the region.

(antiwar.com)

Seems the nuclear world is once again ready to step on the accelerator….which is never a good idea.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”