Author: Kamran Bokhari
Organization/Publisher: Center for Global Policy
Date/Place: June 18, 2020/ USA
Type of Literature: Article
Word Count: 1950
Link: https://cgpolicy.org/articles/china-joins-india-and-pakistan-in-the-kashmir-battlespace/
Keywords: Kashmir, Pakistan, China, India, Ladakh, Right to self-determination, UN
Brief:
The author argues Kashmir has now become a triangular geopolitical dispute among Pakistan, China and India—all three nuclear powered nations—and that the killing of 20 Indian troops by Chinese military in eastern Ladakh area of Indian-occupied Kashmir on June 16 was a major escalation. China’s move into Kashmir after India re-annexed the disputed region on August 5, 2019 will empower Pakistan, but it will aggravate the situation in the region. However, the latest situation gives the US another opportunity to align India against China – which the West sees as an increasing challenge. The author believes India’s annexation of Kashmir (after dividing the Kashmir territory under its occupation in 2019) alarmed Beijing, apparently ending the bilateral conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir which awaits decisions over its political future under 20 UN resolutions. China, the author says, feels that India’s Kashmir move aims to weaken the Chinese position in Aksai Chin – the third part of Kashmir territory under China’s control, despite the fact that since 1975 India and China have maintained calm along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) de-facto border that separates China from India in occupied Kashmir’s Ladakh area. According to this assessment, trouble has mounted for India on Kashmir as China gets closer to Pakistan, especially since 2013 through its over $62 Billion USD investments through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that runs from East Turkistan (what China calls Xinjiang province, in its southwest) through Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan to Balochistan and finally to a port on the Arabian sea under Chinese management. The author additionally identifies the location of the military clash as close to the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan and Siachen Glacier – the world’s highest battlefield – describing its strategic importance and why it is currently manned by the two armies.
By: Riyaz Ul Khaliq, CIGA Non-Resident Research Associate
