Srinagar (AsiaNews) - "Certain incidents do not help improve relations between Pakistan and India" says Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir after the killing yesterday of five Indian soldiers. According to New Delhi, Pakistani troops crossed the border in the area of Poonch and fired on the Indian military, but Islamabad denies any involvement. It is the third exchange of fire since the beginning of 2013 along the border. Many analysts see it as a sign of a new crisis between the two countries.
For over 60 years the region of
Kashmir is claimed in its entirety by the two neighbors. In
1949 - at the end of the first Indo-Pakistani conflict - the territory was
divided: New Delhi obtained Jammu and Kashmir, Islamabad the Northern Territory
and Azad Kashmir. A
division that has not stopped the tensions between the two nations becoming a
"war" without end.
Despite
attempts at dialogue and stabilization of relations, the peace process is still
far from being achieved. Not
only because of events in Kashmir: AsiaNews Sources - anonymous for security
reasons - point to the attack
on the Indian consulate in Jalalabad (Afghanistan), which took place on
August 3.
"The
attack - the sources say - was political.
It is not the first time that India's diplomatic missions have been
targeted. New Delhi is becoming increasingly popular in Afghanistan, and this
worries Pakistan."
In
2008 and 2009, the Indian embassy in Kabul was hit: 75 people died in the
attack. Also
in the Afghan capital, in 2010, two guest houses were attacked and six Indians
lost their lives. In
both cases, India has always accused the terrorists of the Pakistan-based group
Lashkar-e-Taiba, also responsible for the Mumbai
attacks in 2008.