The Guardian view on Kashmir: the world’s most dangerous place.

Pedro_P

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

India and Pakistan need to stop beating the drums of war and seek a way out of confrontation.

An Indian officer lays a wreath on the coffin of deputy superintendent of police Aman Thakur in Kashmir on Sunday. Photograph: Farooq Khan/EPA
▼ The war of words between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan is a reminder that the ceasefire line dividing the Himalayan state of Kashmir remains, in the words of former US president Bill Clinton, “ the  most dangerous place in the  world”. This month’s confrontation was sparked when a suicide bomber blew up a convoy of more than 40 Indian soldiers in India’s Kashmir, the deadliest terror strike in decades. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a terroristgroup based in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. The Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan and the two fought three wars over it since it was split between them in 1947. Over the weekend both Delhi and Islamabad beat the drums of waracross the roof of the world.
The greatest risk is a miscalculation by India or Pakistan. Delhi ought to resist the urge to respond militarily, not least because of the chance of escalation. Pakistan, for its part, ought to move decisively against terrorist groups which despite being banned operate with impunity on its soil. Both need to seek a way out of confrontation. There is a nonchalance, often about how a war between these historic rivals could be contained. Yet in 1999, when Indian forces were on the verge of routing Pakistani troops which had crossed the border and captured mountain peaks in the Kargil region, Islamabad began preparingits nuclear weapons for deployment. The world stood on the precipice of an all-out regional war which would have lednot only to tens of millions of deaths but whose fallout would have crippled global agricultural supplies. Mr Clinton forcedthe Pakistani establishment to step away from the nuclear abyss.
The leadership in both India and Pakistan have to avoid escalating a foreign crisis that they cannot back down from. (▪ ▪ ▪)

► Please, continue reading this editorial here: Source