Tuesday 16 September 2008


WILL KASHMIR PROTESTS AND TERRORISM THWART INDIA’S GLOBAL AMBITIONS?

Politicians and extremists exploiting grievances to instigate violence could drive away foreign investors

Harsh V. Pant

YaleGlobal, September 15, 2008

Before summer of 2008, India and Pakistan were gradually normalizing relations and edging toward agreement on territorial claims in Kashmir. But the longstanding dispute, in play since Pakistan separated from India, remains a live issue for politicians and extremists in India and abroad, to exploit and throw a spanner in the works for the country’s global ambition, suggests Harsh V. Pant, professor and security analyst with King’s College London. India is 80 percent Hindu and 13 percent Muslim. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is the only one with a Muslim majority, and after years of supporting armed struggle, its Muslim citizens pose a novel challenge with a non-violent movement seeking independence form India and closer ties with Pakistan. Pant writes that granting Kashmir independence would fuel other separatist movements in the world’s largest multi-ethnic democracy, but attempts to suppress the demand by force might bring violent attacks in other parts of India, like the recent spate of bombings in major cities including ones in New Delhi on September 13. Pant concludes that “resolution of the problem that acknowledges aspirations of the Kashmiri people while sustaining the idea of India as a multicultural, multiethnic secular liberal democracy is vital not only for India’s global vision but also for a globalizing world order in search of a ‘dialogue among civilizations.’” – YaleGlobal

(…) [artículo aquí]

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