Summary
Bas Ebskamp
Zoeken naar Alexander: waarom de knoop van Kasjmir moet worden doorgehakt
Bas Ebskamp analyses the origins and the vehement character of the conflict between Pakistan and India over Kashmir. The different nationalist ideologies that would underlie the newborn countries at the time of independence from the British Empire in 1947 are still played out in the violent clash over Kashmir's status. The international community has demonstrated a decreasing commitment over the years to deal with the conflict, paradoxically because the stakes are raised as well. Developments in Afghanistan show the negative impact the conflict between India and Pakistan has for wider regional and international developments. With the two adversaries now having acquired a nuclear capability while traditional ways of solving the conflict are out of reach, there are signs of a growing awareness that new paths need to be tried. Secret back-channel negotiations show the ingredients of an agreement, and with international actors like the United States and China each having their own incentives to help finding a solution, there are shimmers of hope for a way out of the deadlock in Kashmir.