Politics of Unresolved Issues Flare with New India-Pakistan Tensions

Shamila N. Chaudhary wrote an article for the Hill about political tension between Pakistan and India.

In India and Pakistan, politicians dance to a rising drumbeat of war. With last week's suicide bombing in Kashmir’s Pulwama area, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “the time for talks has passed.” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke of dialogue, but warned of the costs of Indian retaliation for the attack, which was planned by Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. But Modi and Khan cannot hold the beat. In fact, they evidently are not in control. As in the past, another moment of India-Pakistan confrontation shows just how limited both governments are in their ability to either move peace forward or to substantially change the security issues that continue to provoke confrontation.

When Pakistani politicians talk of peace and dialogue, some believe the country’s military hawks seek to sabotage them out of desire to maintain a strong defense budget heavily oriented towards India. The military does perceive India as its number one security threat; however, in recent years it has professed its desire for stability with its eastern neighbor. However, it continues to allow anti-India militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to operate in Pakistan and views them as convenient proxies in their effort to balance power with a diplomatically and militarily more powerful India.