Kashmir Crisis: Russia Calls for Restraint between India and Pakistan
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The Russian Federation is calling for restraint between India and Pakistan after a military flare-up led to deaths.
Tensions increased rapidly after the recent terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed at least 26 tourists. Hence, the Russian Federation offered to mediate between India and Pakistan.
Strikes by India in “Operation Sindoor” hit Pakistan-administered Kashmir and further into Pakistan.
India links Pakistan to the brutal terrorist attack that took place in Pahalgam (Indian-administered Kashmir). In this terrorist attack, non-Muslims were targeted.
Pakistan denies any involvement. Indeed, Pakistan is blighted by Sunni Islamic terrorism and regional attacks linked to Balochistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan rebuked India for escalating the crisis. He reiterated that the “heinous act of aggression will not go unpunished.”
Sharif continued, “Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given.”
However, India is adamant that the murky role of the security services of Pakistan was behind the terrorist attack.
Vikram Misri, the Foreign Secretary of India, said “Intelligence and monitoring of Pakistan-based terror modules showed that further attacks against India were impending, therefore it was necessary to take pre-emptive and precautionary strikes.”
AP News reports, “Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since an April attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir, in some cases killing men before their wives’ eyes.”
TASS News reports, “India has accused Pakistan’s Interagency Intelligence Service of involvement in the attack, carried out by the Lashkar-e-Taiba group (banned in Russia).”
Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, said, “We are deeply concerned by the heightened military tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of a terror attack near the town of Pahalgam.”
Zakharova continued, “We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint in order to prevent the situation in the region from escalating.”
Zakharova further said, “We hope that the latest dispute between New Delhi and Islamabad will be resolved through peaceful political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the 1972 Simla Agreement and the 1999 Lahore Declaration.”
The Guardian reports, “Control of Kashmir, in the foothills of the Himalayas, has been disputed since India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947. India and Pakistan have twice gone to war over the territory, most recently in 1999.”
It is known that ten members of the Islamist chief (Masood Azhar – Jaish-e-Mohammed group) were killed by the armed forces of India.
The Russian Federation – unlike America or China – is viewed to be an honest broker. Accordingly, it is hoped that India and Pakistan will listen to the Russian Federation and de-escalate the crisis.
Once this is achieved, India and Pakistan need to tackle the menace of Islamic terrorism and regional differences concerning Kashmir.
It remains to be seen if diplomacy will prevail – or if each death (on either side) will trigger a stronger reaction.
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