Track Two Measures Needed.
On 22 April, four gunmen killed 26 people and injured others in the Kashmir tourist center of Pahalgam, Kashmir, India. India blamed Pakistan as being behind the attackers citing Pakistan as having a fundamentally criminal disposition in its deep state. India closed its border crossings into Pakistan and suspended India's water treaty with Pakistan. Pakistan responded by closing its border crossings with India and closed its air space to Indian aircraft.
In 2019 India had modified the special self-governing status of Jammu and Kashmir, and security measures have been very tight since. Kashmir is an important location for tourism within India. Within 48 hours, 90 percent of tourist reservation for Kashmir were cancelled and many tourists left - a blow to farmers who sell their food to tourists and to handicraft makers. The image of a young bride sitting beside her husband's lifeless body has been viewed multiple times and is fixed into the Indian national consciousness as the symbol of the drama.
As tensions within Jammu and Kashmir have led to three wars in the past and to decades of cross-border attacks, the governments of Russia, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia have offered their good offices as mediators. On 25 April, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Foreign Minister said that both India and Pakistan are "brother nations" and that Iran was prepared to play a mediation role.
It may be that Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are all too involved with advancing their own political interests in world politics to be seen as neutral mediators. Nevertheless, the India-Pakistan tensions are very dangerous and may easily grow worse if steps to reduce tensions are not taken very soon. Thus, there may be a role for a start with "Track Two" - non-governmental efforts to see on what issues negotiations may start. Discussions among non-governmental organizations with avenues of communication to India and Pakistan should begin now. Time may be in short supply.
René Wadlow, Association of World Citizens
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