Kashmir Dispute: Nuclear Threat for Regional Peace and Stability

Abstract

This article explores the history and analyses the foundations of India's and Pakistan's complicated, violent, and persistent Kashmir conflict. Since 1947, the Kashmir problem has been a domestic issue for both nations; it also plagues ties between India and Pakistan, as well as between the two South Asian neighbors and other countries in the area. In many aspects, the Kashmir conflict is an ethnic, religious, and geographical problem with geopolitical and economic implications for both India and Pakistan. Both countries claim Kashmir on legal and moral grounds. Meanwhile, many Kashmiris have essentially accepted the existing quo and have essentially abandoned their demand for self-determination. A significant rebellion against Indian control, which began in 1989 and was spearheaded by Kashmiri Muslims, has transformed the face of Kashmir to the point that a gun culture has turned the legendary paradise into a martyr's tomb. Many in Pakistan and India think that having nuclear weapons and a reliable delivery system offers them a credible deterrent and reduces the likelihood of conflict. As a result, they conclude that the area has attained stability via deterrence. But what impact would the 1998 nuclear tests have on resolving the Kashmir conflict? This essay investigates this subject and considers how both nations might be able to resolve the conflict without suffering more human or material losses.