Nuclear Flashpoint in the Roof of the World?

Описание: Kashmir is the fulcrum and smoldering fuse for the Indo-Pakistani conflict and has been since post Imperial Partition. It is of course even more dangerous because both countries had acquired nuclear weapons with the tacit connivance of Cold War rivals.

Around it are packed unstable explosive ingredients. The water of the Himalayas, the unresolved UN resolutions, China’s claims, and Islamic and Hindu fundamentalism which made Kashmir the third rail of domestic politics.

The Kashmiris themselves were never consulted when their Maharaja decided to join India, but New Delhi promised considerable autonomy, only to suspend it occasionally. New Delhi’s centralism, whether secular under Indira Gandhi’s Congress party or sectarian under Modi’s BJP has matched Pakistan’s long decades of military rulers whose surrogates and offshoots often add their own nihilistic edge to mix.

This past Friday, whether to commemorate the ceasefire - or anticipate the next outbreak, the Eurasia Group’s Pramit Pal Chaudhuri outlined the geopolitical and regional fissures that threaten the sub-continent.

Watch the full briefing with Pramit Pal Chaudhuri and FPA President Ian Williams.