India and Pakistan: Behind the thinly veiled conflict

By Shriya Katoch

The Line of Control (LOC) separating India and Pakistan has been dubbed as the most dangerous border in the world.The India – Pakistan conflict has been an old one. It has earned this title because of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, which have been fueled by Pakistan by their acts of sneaking in trained insurgents in India to destabilise the region.

The only reason these two countries are not in the middle of a gory war is because of a concept known as M.A.D, which stands for mutually assured destruction . This acronym came into play during the cold war. Infact the main reason the cold war ended in 1991 was because of M.A.D.

What M.A.D means is that basically if one country attacks the other then the other country will retaliate and since we live in a nuclear age this would amount to complete annihilation. MAD which emerged as a deterrent in the cold war is playing the same role in the India- Pakistan conflict .

The conflict has been present for decades with Kashmir emerging as the flashpoint of the conflict. The reason why Kashmir plays such an integral role is because Pakistan claims control over Kashmir on a majoritarian philosophy that most of the region is Muslim populated , though legally Kashmir belongs to India.

Due to this majoritarian philosophy the Pakistani government and ISI have been training and sending in insurgents in India almost on a daily basis .

A result of this insurgency was the 2008 Mumbai attacks. This attack claimed the lives of 106 people and held the city hostage for 60 hours. The Indians refer to it as their 9/11. The aftermath of this attack resulted in massive public uproar with people on streets. But even in such a high pressure situation the Indian government did not attack Pakistan which was truly commendable. After the 9/11 in USA the government went on war with both Iraq and Afghanistan leading to disastrous consequences .

The continual badgering from Pakistan can lead to a doomsday scenario. Amidst all this USA has been publicly funding Pakistan for years despite knowing that they are the base for the growth of numerous terror organizations.

Infact in the words of Pakistani General ,once head of the ISI, Hamid Gul " Osama bin laden was a genial man, intelligence oozed out of his eyes . flashing black eyes you know "

This man was the general of the Pakistani army and head of the isi once known as the most powerful man in Pakistan. After all this USA still funds Pakistan.

Kashmir is quite literally in the middle of the storm . The reason why Kashmir is such an important region is because firstly due to its proximity to Pakistan. Secondly its terrain is hard to monitor and thirdly because of the insurgency carried out by Pakistan .

To put it in plain words enmity between Pakistan and India is irreducible unless Pakistan undergoes a complete makeover and stops being so hellbent on attacking India and disrupting peace, because if pushed over the edge , India will definitely be pushed into a war.

This war will be catastrophic not just for the subcontinent because leading atomic experts have stated that if more than 100 warheads are denoted in a region it will lead to the destruction of the world .

Shriya Katoch multitasks as an Engineering student,an avid reader,a guitar player and a death note fan. Twitter: @katochshriya538