“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.

A Linha de Controle é uma extensa fronteira de quase 500 quilômetros que divide os rivais com armas nucleares Índia e Paquistão em toda a Caxemira. Tal como acontece com a barreira muito mais pequena de 40 quilómetros que separa Israel da Faixa de Gaza controlada pelo Hamas, a Linha de Controlo tem sido palco de frequentes actividades insurgentes, bem como de uma série de confrontos de grande repercussão e de guerras totais. .

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.

Nova Deli, no entanto, há muito que acusa Islamabad de patrocinar várias milícias com agendas islâmicas e separatistas através da Linha de Controlo, e agora vê com suspeita os esforços dos responsáveis ​​paquistaneses para estabelecer ligações entre as lutas da Caxemira e da Palestina pela independência.

“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.

Embora Nova Deli tenha historicamente expressado simpatia pela causa palestiniana e se tenha tornado a primeira nação não árabe a reconhecer a Organização para a Libertação da Palestina em 1974, a Índia reforçou os laços políticos, económicos e até de segurança com Israel desde que estabeleceu relações oficiais em 1992. O Paquistão, em por outro lado, nunca reconheceu Israel e o seu apoio aos palestinianos foi reforçado por pontos em comum com a questão de Caxemira.

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.

As acusações divergentes surgem em meio a tensões crescentes desencadeadas por um aumento na atividade militante em toda a região.

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.

Embora Teerão e Islamabad tenham historicamente procurado cooperar nesta questão, as frustrações aumentaram no mês passado, quando o Irão conduziu ataques com mísseis contra alegadas posições do grupo militante Jaish al-Adl em território paquistanês, e as forças paquistanesas retaliaram com ataques contra alegados locais rebeldes Baluchi em Irã. Desde então, as duas nações têm procurado reparar os seus laços desgastados, mas os ataques de militantes continuam a minar a segurança regional.

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.”