Tensions on Indo-Pak border: Urgent steps needed to defuse the tense
The tensions between India and Pakistan relations are erupting again. After more than two decades, the two countries are back in a state of war.
On Thursday night, there was a gunfight between the armies of the two neighboring countries on the Line of Control in Kashmir.
The army, navy and air force of the two archrival nuclear-powered countries are also ready.
This ‘war situation’ has been going on since Tuesday, when 26 tourists were killed in a militant attack in Pahalgaon, a tourist-rich region of India- controlled Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, India has suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty — a pact once hailed as a rare diplomatic triumph between two nuclear-armed rivals.
The two countries are now exchanging accusations, taking tough diplomatic steps and showing strength.
In fact, neither India nor Pakistan can afford the catastrophic consequences of disrupting the river system that sustains hundreds of millions of lives. Pakistan, in particular, relies on these waters for 80 percent of its irrigated agriculture.
It also sets a dangerous precedent that could rebound on India itself. After all, China holds the headwaters of the Brahmaputra River, vital to India’s northeast.
If India chooses to treat international river agreements as disposable, why should it expect better from others?
It is worth noting that despite various incidents of terrorism, India has never touched water before.
This time it has suspended the Indus Water Treaty. As a result, the diplomatic relations between the two countries have not only been downgraded, but have also taken a complicated shape. We have seen several wars between India and Pakistan in the past.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has strongly condemned the tragic loss of innocent lives in the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides expressing deep condolences to the families of the victims in the attack, Dhaka has also expressed its sincere sympathy to all those affected by this brutal violence.
Defense analysts are already warning about this.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also expressed concern over the ongoing unrest and called on both countries to exercise maximum restraint. But, time will speak whether his call will actually work.
It is not prudent for the two countries to go to war over the activities of a terrorist group. Since both are nuclear-powered countries, their responsibility is also greater.
We do not want war, we want peace. It is hoped that the two countries will take effective steps to defuse the tense situation by sitting at the dialogue table.