Kashmir is a region of land that borders India, China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The book Tropic of Chaos, by Christian Parenti, explains this region of land as rich in natural resources. Kashmir is a region of land with forests, mountains, minerals, glaciers, and overall, a lot to offer to whatever country it is a part of. Kashmir is a highly desired and sought after piece of land. The conflict between Pakistan and India is over this region of land. Pakistan wants to have control over Kashmir because 90% of their agricultural irrigation depends on rivers that start in Kashmir. Meanwhile, India sees Kashmir as a “resource frontier and geostrategic asset that was too valuable to concede.” Not only because of the resources from the water, but also because they had the economic strength to develop the untapped water and mineral resources. Along with those reasons, India also occupying Kashmir would bring them closer to other big countries in Central Asia and give them a bigger influence on that part of the world. With both Pakistan and India needing Kashmir to support their countries, there was bound to be a conflict over the land. Pakistan made the first move by sending 2,000 soldiers there on October 22nd 1947, with India sending soldiers there not too long after. Thus starting the conflict over Kashmir. This conflict continued to go on throughout the twentieth century. With both countries sending more men every time there was a new war over Kashmir, and at the end of each little war there were new borders for Kashmir. In each war Pakistan is fairing poorly and losing more and more land every time there's a new fight. Both countries are motivated to fight this war so that they can not only occupy the land but also so they have access to the water that comes from Kashmir. Both countries are experiencing extreme drought and Kashmir is their ticket to a water source. For a country like Pakistan, which makes most of its money from agriculture, access to this water determines whether they can be independent or if they have to rely on other countries for water. For India the same issues arise, irrigation, power, and influence are the main motives for this conflict.
As different leaders take control over India and Pakistan the war ebbs and flows along with it. Some politicians have tried to gain peaceful terms with the other country but due to the stakes of the conflict, they never get too far. Most of these conflicts are happening at the "line of control" which is the border between the land India occupies and the land Pakistan occupies. In 2003, there was a ceasefire along the line of control, for the first time in fourteen years.(New York Times) However, that didn't last very long because both sides kept shooting at each other and claiming that they were shooting in retaliation to the other shooting first. From that point until today, Kashmir and the line of control saw many smaller conflicts. With one lasting from 2016-2018, and killing over three hundred people. After that conflict had simmered down again, the two countries agreed to another cease fire on the same terms as the 2003 ceasefire. As the conflict goes longer and gets more and more intense, the biggest worry is nuclear power. Each country now has nuclear weapons and there is a high probability that they could be used. (Center for preventative action) Finally, the climate crisis is not getting any better any time soon. With water as the main motivator for this war, there is not resolution coming from the weather patterns, and tensions are only going to keep rising as we go on more and more years in a drought. (DownToEarth) The map below shows the temperature in this region for 2023. Not only is the drought not subsiding, but it is getting hotter in this part of the world. Showing that there is not an end in sight for the drought.
In conclusion, this conflict has spanned decades and doesn't seem to be moving in a positive direction. Starting in 1947 and still on unsure terms today, Kashmir is a hotspot for terrorism and war. However, with water being the main source for the conflict and a drought that won't let up, there seems to be no resolution in the near future. The two nations will be in conflict until they come to an agreement that works for all involved, or until they no longer face extreme drought due to climate change.
Hi Shane, thank you for sharing. I think it's devastating how terrorism is becoming more normalized in these countries, and how it's projected to only get worse with climate change. Unfortunately, it seems that the people over in these conflicting countries find that war and raiding are the solutions to their huge droughts.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Shane, I enjoyed reading more about this topic, and you explained it very well. Reading that the conflict is over the Kashmir region partly due to the water available in that region was shocking to me. Most predictions of the future talk about wars over natural resources such as water occurring, but those ideas are seen as something far away in a post apocalyptic time. However, climate induced wars over these finite resources seem to have already started in our present day, further enforcing the idea that climate change is an issue of today and that change needs to happen now.
ReplyDeleteNice post Shane! I really liked your final paragraph, very thought provoking and it would make complete sense that they won't stop fighting until there's finally some resolution or they can no longer fight due to the increasing effects of climate change. I like how you explained the conflict in detail for those reading who might not be in our class and have read Tropic of Chaos, reading yours made me realize I should have done that more with my post. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Shane, I really like your post. It really illustrates how drought leads to massive conflicts that can last for decades. These two countries are so desperate for a good source of water that their countries have gone to war multiple times in order to try to sustain for their countries. It is sad to see countries needing to rely on war and killing to sustain themselves.
ReplyDeleteHi Shane! This was a really informative post, it was really interesting and I learned a lot more about Kashmir’s role in the Pakistan/India conflict. Similar to a few of the other posts I’ve read so far, yours emphasizes the growing threat of drought in the region. It is already a devastating inhibitor of life and is projected to worsen - access to water is a major and imminent concern to be addressed across the globe.
ReplyDeleteHi Shane, I really liked how informative your post was. This is the first I am hearing of Kashmir, which allowed to learn something new that I was unfamiliar with prior. It is interesting to know that Kashmir is the ticket for water supply.
ReplyDeleteHey Shane
ReplyDeleteAny conflict is difficult to read about, but one that involves water is mind-blowing. The whole idea of having conflicts over things like fresh water seems pointless until you realize how little around the world we have left. It's hard to pinpoint a solution when the whole reason for the conflict is drought. The unfortunate location of the country leaves it at the mercy of its surrounding nations.
It's a shame to hear about the direction this conflict is going, however informative this is. Your statements about how drought is only worsening and temperatures are only rising are quite predictive of the future conflicts to arise. Are any developed nations stepping in to help preserve the water availability for everyone involved?
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