India has increased its defences along its de facto border with Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The country is concerned about a potential surprise attack by militants inspired by the Palestinian Hamas movement’s successful infiltration of Israel. 
Het leger wil al in mei over sommige delen van de grens een drone-verdedigingssysteem operationeel hebben. De stap om de grenzen voortdurend te bewaken komt omdat de spanningen met buurland China en Pakistan aanhouden, vooral langs de Himalaya.
“The employment of innovative means by Hamas while attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, has raised alarm among security agencies across the world,” an Indian Army spokesperson told Newsweek.
“Requisite measures have been instituted along the Line of Control and International Border Sectors to thwart any such malafide attempts from across the Western Border,” the spokesperson added.
De Line of Control is een uitgestrekte, bijna 500 kilometer lange grens die de nucleair bewapende rivalen India en Pakistan over Kasjmir verdeelt. Net als het geval is met de veel kleinere 40 kilometer lange barrière die Israël scheidt van de door Hamas bezette Gazastrook, is de Lijn van Controle het toneel geweest van frequente opstandelingenactiviteiten en van een aantal spraakmakende schermutselingen en totale oorlogen. .
But with Hamas’ shock October assault sparking the deadliest-ever flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence that remains ongoing to this day, the spokesperson outlined some of the steps that have been taken to address emergent threats in the stretch Kashmir it administers, officially known as Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), as growing unrest in the Middle East threatens to spill over into South Asia.
“The Indian Army has established robust Counter Infiltration and Terror Grids in J&K in synchronization with other stakeholders,” the Indian Army spokesperson explained.
“Adequate troops are deployed in the grid along with niche technology equipment with the capability to dynamically readjust based on emerging operational situation,” the spokesperson continued. “Technological infusion has been undertaken to counter emerging drone/quadcopter threats, in concert with other stakeholders.”
Security measures in India-administered Kashmir were drastically increased after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to revoke the region’s semi-autonomous status in August 2019. The move, along with an ensuing crackdown designed to stamp out a decades-long insurgency waged by separatist groups, sparked international controversy, as well as outrage from Pakistan, which saw the move as a unilateral violation of attempts to settle Kashmir’s political status.
New Delhi heeft Islamabad echter al lang beschuldigd van het sponsoren van verschillende milities met islamitische en separatistische agenda's aan de andere kant van de controlelijn, en kijkt nu met argwaan naar pogingen van Pakistaanse functionarissen om verbanden te leggen tussen de strijd voor onafhankelijkheid in Kasjmir en de Palestijnen.
“Pakistan continues to innovate and adapt its proxy war in J&K to keep the pot boiling and present a disturbed situation in J&K,” the Indian Army spokesperson said. “While so far, there have been no major attempts to link the two issues, the same cannot be ruled out in an attempt by Pakistan to highlight the Kashmir issue in the international fora.”
The two issues do, in fact, share some common roots. The bloody partition that gave birth to the rivalry between the modern nations of India and Pakistan and the territorial dispute that sparked the Israeli-Palestinian conflict both followed the United Kingdom’s withdrawals from colonial holdings in 1947 and 1948, respectively.
Terwijl New Delhi historisch gezien zijn sympathie heeft betuigd voor de Palestijnse zaak en in 1974 de eerste niet-Arabische natie werd die de Palestijnse Bevrijdingsorganisatie erkende, heeft India de politieke, economische en zelfs veiligheidsbanden met Israël versterkt sinds het in 1992 officiële betrekkingen aanging. de hand heeft Israël nooit erkend, en zijn steun aan de Palestijnen is versterkt door overeenkomsten met de kwestie Kasjmir.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Pakistani Permanent Representative to the United Nations Munir Akram asserted that “the Palestinian cause and Kashmir cause have been intertwined historically, but also because they depend on the same central principle of self-determination.”
The senior Pakistani diplomat argued that “the application of the principle of self-determination, if it succeeds in Palestine, will be a great boost to the application of the principle for Jammu and Kashmir.”
Akram rebuffed India’s accusations that his nation was behind militant activity in Kashmir and instead accused New Delhi of waging its own “hybrid war” through conventional means as well as the backing of non-state actors such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP], also known as the Pakistani Taliban, and Balochi separatists.
De duellerende beschuldigingen komen te midden van oplopende spanningen, veroorzaakt door een piek in militante activiteit in de hele regio.
Iran and Pakistan, in particular, have suffered a series of deadly attacks by groups pushing ethnic separatist and Islamist agendas, including the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), in recent years, especially since the Afghan Taliban’s takeover over neighbouring Afghanistan.
Hoewel Teheran en Islamabad historisch gezien hebben geprobeerd samen te werken op dit gebied, kookten de frustraties de afgelopen maand toen Iran raketaanvallen uitvoerde op vermeende posities van de militante groepering Jaish al-Adl op Pakistaans grondgebied, en Pakistaanse troepen wraak namen met aanvallen op vermeende Baluchi-rebellenlocaties in Pakistan. Iran. De twee landen hebben sindsdien geprobeerd hun gerafelde banden te herstellen, maar militante aanvallen blijven de regionale veiligheid ondermijnen.
At a time when the war in Gaza was also prompting violent ripple effects, with non-state actors aligned with Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen opening new fronts, Indian and Pakistani officials have expressed concerns over the potential second-order effects for their own region.
“The security situation in the Middle East has a bearing on overall security situation in the region including India,” the Indian Army spokesperson said.
“The Indian Army remains cognizant of developments in the international security arena including the Middle East and adequate safeguards are put in place,” the spokesperson added, “along with a whole-of-government approach, to meet the emerging challenges.”