India bars protests that support the Palestinians. Analysts say a pro-Israel shift helps at home

THEY ARE BOTH ISLAMOPHOBES


 India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right gestures and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to the media as they arrive for a meeting in New Delhi, India, Jan.15, 2018. Modi, a staunch Hindu nationalist, was one of the first global leaders to swiftly express solidarity with Israel and call the Hamas attack “terrorism.” Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel in 2017. Netanyahu, travelled to New Delhi the following year and called the relationship between New Delhi and Tel Aviv a “marriage made in heaven.” 

BY AIJAZ HUSSAIN AND SHEIKH SAALIQ
November 7, 2023

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — From Western capitals to Muslim states, protest rallies over the Israel-Hamas war have made headlines. But one place known for its vocal pro-Palestinian stance has been conspicuously quiet: Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Indian authorities have barred any solidarity protest in Muslim-majority Kashmir and asked Muslim preachers not to mention the conflict in their sermons, residents and religious leaders told The Associated Press.

The restrictions are part of India’s efforts to curb any form of protest that could turn into demands for ending New Delhi’s rule in the disputed region. They also reflect a shift in India’s foreign policy under populist Prime Minister Narendra Modi away from its long-held support for the Palestinians, analysts say.

India has long walked a tightrope between the warring sides, with historically close ties to both. While India strongly condemned the Oct. 7 attack by the militant group Hamas and expressed solidarity with Israel, it urged that international humanitarian law be upheld in Gaza amid rising civilian deaths.

But in Kashmir, being quiet is painful for many.

“From the Muslim perspective, Palestine is very dear to us, and we essentially have to raise our voice against the oppression there. But we are forced to be silent,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key resistance leader and a Muslim cleric. He said he has been put under house arrest each Friday since the start of the war and that Friday prayers have been disallowed at the region’s biggest mosque in Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the Himalayan region which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. In 2019, New Delhi removed the region’s semiautonomy, drastically curbing any form of dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms.

Kashmiris have long shown strong solidarity with the Palestinians and often staged large anti-Israel protests during previous fighting in Gaza. Those protests often turned into street clashes, with demands for an end of India’s rule and dozens of casualties.

Modi, a staunch Hindu nationalist, was one of the first global leaders to swiftly express solidarity with Israel and call the Hamas attack “terrorism.” However, on Oct. 12, India’s foreign ministry issued a statement reiterating New Delhi’s position in support of establishing a “sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side at peace with Israel.”

Two weeks later, India abstained during the United Nations General Assembly vote that called for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, a departure from its usual voting record. New Delhi said the vote did not condemn the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas.

“This is unusual,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute.

India “views Israel’s assault on Gaza as a counterterrorism operation meant to eliminate Hamas and not directly target Palestinian civilians, exactly the way Israel views the conflict,” Kugelman said. He added that from New Delhi’s perspective, “such operations don’t pause for humanitarian truces.”

India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, sought to justify India’s abstention.

“It is not just a government view. If you ask any average Indian, terrorism is an issue which is very close to people’s heart, because very few countries and societies have suffered terrorism as much as we have,” he told a media event in New Delhi on Saturday.

Even though Modi’s government has sent humanitarian assistance for Gaza’s besieged residents, many observers viewed its ideological alignment with Israel as potentially rewarding at a time when the ruling party in New Delhi is preparing for multiple state elections this month and crucial national polls next year.

The government’s shift aligns with widespread support for Israel among India’s Hindu nationalists who form a core vote bank for Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party. It also resonates with the coverage by Indian TV channels of the war from Israel. The reportage has been seen as largely in line with commentary used by Hindu nationalists on social media to stoke anti-Muslim sentiment that in the past helped the ascendance of Modi’s party.

Praveen Donthi, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the war could have a domestic impact in India, unlike other global conflicts, due to its large Muslim population. India is home to some 200 million Muslims who make up the predominantly Hindu country’s largest minority group.

“India’s foreign policy and domestic politics come together in this issue,” Donthi said. “New Delhi’s pro-Israel shift gives a new reason to the country’s right-wing ecosystem that routinely targets Muslims.”

India’s foreign policy has historically supported the Palestinian cause.

In 1947, India voted against the United Nations resolution to create the state of Israel. It was the first non-Arab country to recognize the Palestinian Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinians in the 1970s, and it gave the group full diplomatic status in the 1980s.

After the PLO began a dialogue with Israel, India finally established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992.

Those ties widened into a security relationship after 1999, when India fought a limited war with Pakistan over Kashmir and Israel helped New Delhi with arms and ammunition. The relationship has grown steadily over the years, with Israel becoming India’s second largest arms supplier after Russia.

After Modi won his first term in 2014, he became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel in 2017. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, travelled to New Delhi the following year and called the relationship between New Delhi and Tel Aviv a “marriage made in heaven.”

Weeks after Netanyahu’s visit, Modi visited the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, a first by an Indian prime minister, and held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “India hopes that Palestine soon becomes a sovereign and independent country in a peaceful atmosphere,” Modi said.

Modi’s critics, however, now draw comparisons between his government and Israel’s, saying it has adopted certain measures, like demolishing homes and properties, as a form of “collective punishment” against minority Muslims.

Even beyond Kashmir, Indian authorities have largely stopped protests expressing solidarity with Palestinians since the war began, claiming the need to maintain communal harmony and law and order.

Some people have been briefly detained by police for taking part in pro-Palestinian protests even in states ruled by opposition parties. The only state where massive pro-Palestinian protests have taken place is southern Kerala, which is ruled by a leftist government.

But in Kashmir, enforced silence is seen not only as violating freedom of expression but also as impinging on religious duty.

Aga Syed Mohammad Hadi, a Kashmiri religious leader, was not able to lead the past three Friday prayers because he was under house arrest on those days. He said he had wanted to stage a protest rally against “the naked aggression of Israel.” Authorities did not comment on such house arrests.

“Police initially allowed us to condemn Israel’s atrocities inside the mosques. But last Friday they said even speaking (about Palestinians) inside the mosques is not allowed,” Hadi said. “They said we can only pray for Palestine — that too in Arabic, not in local Kashmiri language.”

KHASMIR IS INDIA'S GAZA

 Kashmiris pray for Palestinians killed in Israel’s military operations in Gaza, inside a mosque in Budgham, northeast of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Oct. 13, 2023. In Indian-controlled Kashmir, known for its vocal pro-Palestinian stance, authorities have barred any solidarity protest and asked Muslim preachers not to mention the conflict in their sermons. Analysts say the new restrictions on speech reflect a shift in India’s foreign policy under the populist Prime Minister Narendra Modi away from its long-held support for the Palestinians. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin, File)

 Activists of Socialist Unity Center of India (Communist) burn an effigy of U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a rally to protest against Israel’s military operations in Gaza and to show solidarity with the Palestinian people, in Kolkata, India, Nov. 1, 2023. Indian authorities have largely stopped protests expressing solidarity with Palestinians since the war began, claiming the need to maintain communal harmony and law and order. Some people have been briefly detained by police for taking part in pro-Palestinian protests even in states ruled by opposition parties. (AP Photo/Bikas Das, File)

-People hold placards in solidarity with Israel in Ahmedabad, India, Oct. 16, 2023. In Indian-controlled Kashmir, known for its vocal pro-Palestinian stance, authorities have barred any solidarity protests. Analysts say the new restrictions on speech reflect a shift in India’s foreign policy under the populist Prime Minister Narendra Modi away from its long-held support for the Palestinians. The government’s shift aligns with widespread support for Israel among India’s Hindu nationalists who form a core vote bank for Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)

An elderly Kashmiri shouts slogans against Israel’s military operations in Gaza, inside a mosque in Budgham, northeast of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Oct. 13, 2023. In Indian-controlled Kashmir, known for its vocal pro-Palestinian stance, authorities have barred any solidarity protest and asked Muslim preachers not to mention the conflict in their sermons. Analysts say the new restrictions on speech reflect a shift in India’s foreign policy under the populist Prime Minister Narendra Modi away from its long-held support for the Palestinians. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin, File)

 A student activist resists detention while gathering to protest against Israel’s military operations in Gaza and to support the Palestinian people, in New Delhi, India, Oct. 27, 2023. Indian authorities have largely stopped protests expressing solidarity with Palestinians since the war began, claiming the need to maintain communal harmony and law and order. Some people have been briefly detained by police for taking part in pro-Palestinian protests even in states ruled by opposition parties. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

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Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

AIJAZ HUSSAIN
Hussain is a correspondent based in Kashmir, India

SHEIKH SAALIQ
Saaliq is a reporter based in New Delhi, India

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Hinduism Is Fascism 

#KASHMIR IS #INDIA'S #GAZA
India and Pakistan fought 3 wars over Kashmir – here’s why international law and US help can’t solve this territorial dispute

An armed conflict in Kashmir has thwarted all attempts to solve it for three quarters of a century.

Kashmir, an 85,806-square-mile valley between the snowcapped Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges, is a contested region between India, Pakistan and China. Both India and Pakistan lay claim to all of Kashmir, but each administers only part of it.

Map of Kashmir. Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, 2002, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

During the British rule of India, Kashmir was a feudal state with its own regional ruler. In 1947, the Kashmiri ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, agreed that his kingdom would join India under certain conditions. Kashmir would retain political and economic sovereignty, while its defense and external affairs would be dealt with by India.

But Pakistan, newly created by the British, laid claim to a majority-Muslim part of Kashmir along its border. India and Pakistan fought the first of three major wars over Kashmir in 1947. It resulted in the creation of a United Nations-brokered “ceasefire line” that divided Indian and Pakistani territory. The line went right through Kashmir.

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Despite the establishment of that border, presently known as the “Line of Control,” two more wars over Kashmir followed, in 1965 and 1999. An estimated 20,000 people died in these three wars.

International law, a set of rules and regulations created after World War II to govern all the world’s nation-states, is supposed to resolve territorial disputes like Kashmir. Such disputes are mainly dealt with by the International Court of Justice, a United Nations tribunal that rules on contested borders and war crimes.

Yet international law has repeatedly failed to resolve the Kashmir conflict, as my research on Kashmir and international law shows.

International law fails in Kashmir

The U.N. has made many failed attempts to restore dialogue after fighting between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, which today is home to a diverse population of 13.7 million Muslims, Hindus and people of other faiths.

In 1949, the U.N. sent a peacekeeping mission to both countries. U.N. peace missions were not as robust as its peacekeeping operations are today, and international troops proved unable to protect the sanctity of the borders between India and Pakistan.

In 1958, the Graham Commission, led by a U.N.-designated mediator, Frank Graham, recommended to the U.N. Security Council that India and Pakistan agree to demilitarize in Kashmir and hold a referendum to decide the status of the territory.

India rejected that plan, and both India and Pakistan disagreed on how many troops would remain along their border in Kashmir if they did demilitarize. Another war broke out in 1965.

In 1999, India and Pakistan battled along the Line of Control in the Kargil district of Kashmir, leading the United States to intervene diplomatically, siding with India.

Since then, official U.S. policy has been to prevent further escalation in the dispute. The U.S. government has offered several times to facilitate a mediation process over the contested territory.

The latest U.S. president to make that offer was Donald Trump after conflict erupted in Kashmir in 2019. The effort went nowhere.

Why international law falls short

Why is the Kashmir conflict too politically difficult for a internationally brokered compromise?

The maharaja of Kashmir agreed to join India in 1947.

For one, India and Pakistan don’t even agree on whether international law applies in Kashmir. While Pakistan considers the Kashmir conflict an international dispute, India says it is a “bilateral issue” and an “internal matter.”

India’s stance narrows the purview of international law. For example, regional organizations like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation cannot intervene on the Kashmir issue – by convening a regional dialogue, for example – because its charter prohibits involvement in “bilateral and contentious issues.”

But India’s claim that Kashmir is Indian territory is hotly debated.

In 2019, the Indian government abolished the 1954 law that gave Kashmir autonomous status and militarily occupied the territory. At least 500,000 Indian troops are in Kashmir today.

Pakistan’s government denounced the move as “illegal,” and many Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control say India violated its 1947 accession deal with Maharaja Singh.

The U.N. still officially considers Kashmir a disputed area. But India has held firm that Kashmir is part of India, under central government control, worsening already bad relations between India and Pakistan.

Military coups and terror

Another obstacle to peace between the two nations: Pakistan’s military.

In 1953, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra agreed in principle to resolve the Kashmir problem through a U.N. mediation or with an International Court of Justice proceeding.

That never happened, because the Pakistani military overthrew Ali Bogra in 1955.

Several more Pakistani military regimes have interrupted Pakistani democracy since then. India believes these non-democratic regimes lack credibility to negotiate with it. And, generally, Pakistan’s military governments have preferred the battlefield over political dialogue.

Terrorism is another critical factor making the Kashmir situation more complex. Several radical Islamist groups, including Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, operate in Kashmir, based primarily on the Pakistani side.

Since the late 1980s the terrorist groups have conducted targeted strikes and attacks on Indian government and military facilities, leading the Indian military to retaliate in Pakistani territory. Pakistan then alleges that India has breached the borderline, defying international treaties like the 1972 Simla Agreement to conduct its anti-terror attacks.

India has increased its military presence in Kashmir to at least 500,000 troops. 

Yawar Nazir/Getty Images

Intractable struggles

In many cases, treaties and international court decisions cannot be enforced. There is no international police force to help implement international law.

If a country ignores an International Court of Justice ruling, the other party in that court case may have recourse to the Security Council, which can pressure or even sanction a nation to comply with international law.

But that rarely happens, as such resolution processes are highly political and any permanent Security Council member can veto them.

And when conflicting parties are more inclined to view a conflict through the lens of domestic law – as India views Kashmir and Israel views the Palestinian territories – they can argue that international law simply does not apply.

Kashmir is not the only contested territory where international law has failed.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the Gaza and West Bank territories is another example. For decades, both the U.N. and the United States have repeatedly and unsuccessfully intervened there in an effort to establish mutually acceptable borderlines and bring peace.

International law has grown and strengthened since its creation in the 1940s, but there are still many problems it cannot solve.

Author

Bulbul Ahmed
Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Security and Strategic Studies, Bangladesh University of Professionals

#KASHMIR IS #INDIA'S #GAZA

Hundreds rally in Pakistan-ruled Kashmir against India G20 meet

SILENCE IS COMPLICITY

Abu Arqam Naqash
Mon, May 22, 2023 

Protest against the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting, in Muzaffarabad


By Abu Arqam Naqash

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Hundreds of people rallied in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Monday to protest arch rival India's decision to host a G20 tourism meeting in its part of the disputed Himalayan region, said a government official.

New Delhi is hosting the key conference in Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar from Monday to Wednesday, a move which Pakistan and longtime ally China have opposed.

Several protesters demonstrated in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and other cities, chanting: "Go India go back and boycott, boycott G20 boycott!" , said the official Raja Azhar Iqbal.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited the region and addressed Kashmir's legislative assembly on Monday. He termed the G20 gathering as illegal, and an attempt by India to seek legitimacy over its control of the disputed region.

"India is misusing its position as G20 chair," he said, and urged the world to take note of New Delhi's "gross human rights violations" since India scrapped Kashmir's special status in August 2019 and converted it into a federal territory.

The G20 tourism working group meeting is the first international event in the region since the conversion.

Indian foreign ministry didn't respond to a request for a comment.

Nuclear-armed nations, Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir, which they each claim in full but control parts of.

G20 consists of 19 rich nations and the European Union. India at present holds it presidency, and is set to host its annual summit in New Delhi in September.

India hopes the meeting will help revive international tourism in the scenic Kashmir Valley which has been roiled by a violent Islamist insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, although violence levels have fallen in recent years and domestic tourism boomed.

(This story has been corrected to fix description of Kashmir's status from 'independent' to 'special' and India's action from 'annexed' to 'converted it into a federal territory' in paragraph 5, and 'annexation' to 'conversion' in paragraph 6)

(Writing by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

G20 delegates begin meeting in disputed Kashmir, with region's intense security largely out of view 


Mon, May 22, 2023 

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Delegates from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations began a meeting on tourism in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday that was condemned by China and Pakistan, as authorities reduced the visibility of security in the disputed region’s main city.

The meeting is the first significant international event in Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the Muslim-majority region of its semi-autonomy in 2019. Indian authorities hope the meeting will show that the contentious changes have brought peace and prosperity to the region.

The delegates will discuss topics such as ecotourism, destination management and the role of films in promoting tourist destinations.

The main city of Srinagar appeared calm on Monday and roads were unusually clean. Most of the usual security checkpoints had been removed or camouflaged with G20 signs. Officials said hundreds of officers were specially trained in what they called “invisible policing” for the event.

Shops in the city center opened earlier than usual after officials asked shopkeepers to remain open. Many shops in the past have closed in protests against Indian policies in the region. But authorities shut many schools in the city.

Mondays’ measures contrasted sharply with the visible security imposed in the days before the event. A massive security cordon was placed around the venue on the shore of Dal Lake, with elite naval commandos patrolling the water in rubber boats. The city’s commercial center was spruced up, with freshly black-topped roads leading to the convention center and power poles lit in the colors of India’s national flag.

Indian-controlled Kashmir remains one of the world’s most heavily militarized territories, with hundreds of thousands of troops. In 1989, a violent separatist insurgency erupted in the region seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which also controls part of Kashmir. India replied with a brutal counterinsurgency campaign, and tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed in the conflict.

India’s crackdown intensified after 2019 when New Delhi took the region under its direct control. Since then, the territory’s people and its media have been largely silenced. Authorities have seized scores of homes and arrested hundreds of people under stringent anti-terror laws. The government says such actions are necessary to stop a “terror ecosystem,” or civilian support for the armed rebellion.

Authorities have also enacted new laws that critics and many Kashmiris fear could transform the region’s demographics.

Indian federal Minister Jitendra Singh told attendees on Monday that Kashmir is changing.

″If such an event was held earlier, a strike call would be given from Islamabad and shops on Residency Road (in) Srinagar would close. Now there is no hartal (strike)," he said. “Common people on the streets of Srinagar want to move on.”

Last week, the U.N. special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, said the meeting would support a “facade of normalcy” while “massive human rights violations” continue in the region. India’s mission at the U.N. in Geneva rejected the statement as “baseless” and “unwarranted allegations.”

India’s tourism secretary, Arvind Singh, said on Saturday that the meeting was “not only to showcase (Kashmir’s) potential for tourism but to also signal globally the restoration of stability and normalcy in the region.”

Kashmir, known for rolling Himalayan foothills, has for decades been a major domestic tourist destination. Millions of visitors arrive in Kashmir every year and experience a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers.

The mainstay of Kashmir’s economy, however, continues to be agriculture, and the tourism industry contributes only about 7% to the region’s GDP.

China, with which India is locked in a military standoff along their disputed border in the Ladakh region, has boycotted the event. Pakistan also slammed New Delhi for holding the meeting in Srinagar. Both have argued that such meetings can't be held in disputed territories.

In a speech to lawmakers in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir on Monday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the Srinagar meeting was a “display of India’s arrogance on the world stage" and the region "has become an open prison” for its residents.

India dismissed Pakistan's criticism, saying it is not even a member of the G20.

The G20 has a rolling presidency with a different member setting priorities each year. India is steering the group in 2023.

___

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Aijaz Hussain, The Associated Press

G20: India hosts tourism meet in Kashmir amid tight security

Cherylann Mollan & Sharanya Hrishikesh - BBC News
Mon, May 22, 2023 

India has stepped up security arrangements in Kashmir ahead of the meeting

India is holding a key G20 tourism meeting in Kashmir amid heightened security and opposition from China.

The working group meeting is being held in Srinagar, the summer capital of the federally administrated territory, from Monday to Wednesday.

This is the biggest international event organised in the region since India scrapped its special status in 2019.

Over 60 delegates from G20 member countries are expected to attend the event.

China, however, has said it will not attend, citing its firm opposition "to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory". The BBC has emailed India's foreign ministry for its response to China's statement.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full, but control only parts of it. The nuclear-armed neighbours have already fought two wars and a limited conflict over the region.

In April, Pakistan, which is not a G20 member, had criticised India's decision to hold the meetings in Kashmir, calling it an "irresponsible" move.

India, however said, that it was "natural" to hold G20 events and meetings in "Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, which are an integral and inalienable part" of the country.

In 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led federal government had divided the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir to create two federally administrated territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Ladakh is a disputed frontier region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, and both countries claim parts of it.

The Indian government and several sections of the media have calling the G20 event in Kashmir "historic", billing it as an opportunity to showcase the region's culture.

In the days leading up to the event, India had conducted several security drills in Kashmir. The region has seen an armed insurgency against India since 1989 - India accuses Pakistan of fomenting the unrest by backing separatist militants, a charge denied by Islamabad.

Over the decades, opposition politicians, activists and locals have also accused successive Indian governments of human rights violations and stifling of freedoms in the restive region - which Delhi has denied.

Some opposition leaders have criticised the elaborate security arrangements ahead of the G20 meet

This year, the region has witnessed increased attacks by suspected militants and security officers have told the media that they are taking steps to prevent any threats designed to derail the G20 meet.

Elite security forces - including marine commandos, National Security Guards, Border Security Force and police forces - have been deployed in Kashmir to provide ground-to-air security cover, according to reports.

Security has also been boosted around the Dal Lake and the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, which is the venue for the meeting.

Schools around the routes that G20 delegates will use have been closed. Military bunkers, a common sight in Kashmir, have been covered with G20 banners to hide them from view.

Local opposition leaders, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, have criticised the elaborate security arrangements and accused the federal government of making life even more difficult for ordinary people. In a press conference, Ms Mufti compared the restrictions in Kashmir ahead of G20 to that of the notorious US military prison, Guantanamo Bay. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has not responded to this yet.

A 53-year-old businessman, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that locals had to "face a lot of difficulties" over the past 10 days due to the security arrangements.

"There was a lot of frisking, checking and search operations in residential areas. Many schools and colleges are shut," he said.

He also questioned the federal government's claim that the meeting would boost the local economy, saying that only "permanent peace" could achieve that.

Others have also criticised the decision to hold the meeting in Kashmir.

Last week, Fernand de Varennes, the UN's special rapporteur on minority issues, had issued a statement saying that the G20 was "unwittingly providing a veneer of support to a facade of normalcy" when human rights violations, political persecution and illegal arrests were escalating in Kashmir. The statement was criticised by India's permanent mission at the UN on Twitter.

India has said it will showcase the cultural heritage of Kashmir and promote its tourism potential during the meeting. Delegates will be taken on sightseeing tours and there will be discussions on strategies to promote "film tourism", according to an official statement.

The G20, which includes the world's 19 wealthiest nations plus the European Union, accounts for 85% of global economic output and two-thirds of its population.

India currently holds the presidency - which rotates annually between members - and is set to host the G20 summit in Delhi in September.

Head of Pakistan-administered Kashmir calls for international mediation

KASHMIR IS INDIA'S GAZA

Charlotte Greenfield
Wed, April 30, 2025
REUTERS

A military personnel with the Border Security Force (BSF) stands guard at the Attari-Wagah border


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The head of the Pakistan-administered region of Kashmir called for international mediation and said on Wednesday that his administration was preparing a humanitarian response in case of any further escalation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.

Pakistan's government has said it has "credible intelligence" that India intends to launch military action soon after days of escalating tensions following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.

India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 attack, which left 26 people dead, which Islamabad has denied.

"There is a lot of activity going on and anything could happen so we have to prepare for it. These few days are very important," president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry told Reuters in an interview, calling for rapid international diplomacy to de-escalate the situation.

"We expect some mediation at this time from some friendly countries and we hope that that mediation must take place, otherwise India would do anything this time," he said. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates could be in a position to mediate, he added.

Chaudhry also said he hoped major players like the United States and Britain might also get involved.

He said activity along the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the two portions of Kashmir was "hot" and that Pakistan had shot down two Indian drones in the last few days.

There had been regular firing by Pakistani and Indian soldiers day and night, though so far there had been no casualties, he said.

Pakistan had also detected Indian Rafale fighter jets flying near the LoC, though they had not crossed, he added.

The Indian Air Force did not respond to a request for comment, though an Indian military official said Rafale jets were doing their usual training and drills along the LoC.

Chaudhry said he had not received intelligence on when and where India was expected to strike, but his administration was working with groups such as the Red Crescent Society to prepare extra medical and food supplies in case of any conflict.

"Red Crescent are working on it and we are working on displaced people in affected areas," he said.

He said that the international community also needed to pay more attention to Kashmir's long-term future.

"I think this is the right time for the international community as a whole and the U.N. to play some mediating role in Kashmir," he said.

"It's been a very long time and the people of Kashmir have suffered a lot."

Pakistan-administered Kashmir has its own elected government but Pakistan handles major issues like defence and its residents hold many of the rights of Pakistani citizens.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to Pakistan and India on Tuesday, stressing the need to avoid confrontation. The U.S. and Britain have also called for calm.

Pakistan says India attack is ‘imminent’ – but are they really on brink of war?

Shweta Sharma
Tue, April 29, 2025 

Pakistan’s defence minister said military action from India was “imminent”, days after a deadly terror attack on tourists in Kashmir heightened fears of a wider conflict.

Already strained ties between India and Pakistan deteriorated dramatically when 25 tourists and a local guide were shot dead by militants on 22 April in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam in the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi directed its anger towards Pakistan and accused its neighbour of fuelling violent separatist insurgency in the scenic Himalayan region. Both India and Pakistan administer Kashmir in part and claim the region as a whole. Islamabad has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attack.

Yet while India has vowed a “strong response” and its prime minister Narendra Modi has said the attackers will be hunted “to the ends of the Earth”, experts say the prospect of an all-out war between the two nuclear-armed South Asian rivals remains unlikely.

Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Pakistan’s defence minister, said the country was working on the assumption that India would attack in some form, and that it could happen as soon as in the next two or three days.

Pakistan’s defence forces are ready and the military has briefed the government on the possibility of the attack, he told Reuters from his office in Islamabad.

"We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation, some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken," Mr Asif said.

On the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons in response to the attack, Mr Asif said Islamabad was on high alert but would only use such weaponry if "there is a direct threat to our existence”.


In a separate interview with Pakistani media outlet Geo News, Mr Asif said the next few days were crucial. “If something has to happen, it will happen in two or three days,” Mr Asif told the news channel. “There is an immediate threat.” He said allies such as China, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are trying to prevent conflict from breaking out.

In the days after what was the first deadly attack on tourists in decades in Kashmir, the relative quiet on the disputed border between India and Pakistan has been shattered, as troops repeatedly exchanged fire along the Line of Control (LoC), the 740km frontier separating the Indian and Pakistani-administered parts of Kashmir.

Indian police have identified three of the four gunmen who carried out the attack, naming two Pakistani nationals and a Kashmiri man, and accused Islamabad of harbouring and supporting terror groups operating in the region.

Pakistan has rejected the allegations and called for an independent investigation.

Ajay Bisaria, former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan from 2017 to 2020, told The Independent an Indian military response was to be expected, at a time and place of New Delhi’s choosing.

He suggested India may carry out a limited, targeted military operation, such as an airstrike or temporary incursion, to send a message without escalating into a broader conflict.

“A kinetic action – a repeat of 2016 and 2019 strikes – is expected along with a mix of policy responses from India. The policy response would involve diplomatic and bilateral moves,” Mr Bisaria said. In 2016, teams of Indian commandos crossed the LoC to carry out attacks up to a kilometre into Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while in 2019 the Indian air force carried out airstrikes on targets across the border.

Indian security officers inspect the site in Pahalgam where militants indiscriminately opened fired at tourists on Tuesday (AP)

“We can expect Pakistan to retaliate in some former way if India takes any kinetic measures. But we can also expect both sides to find a quick way to de-escalate the situation as soon as it escalates,” he added

The former diplomat said India’s action would require an element of surprise and secrecy as and when it happens, meaning it was unlikely to precisely mirror recent strikes.

Harsh V Pant, a strategic affairs expert at the Observer Research Foundation think tank, was sceptical of the Pakistani defence minister’s warning of an imminent Indian military action, saying such remarks “shouldn’t be taken at face value”.

“Asif has every incentive to escalate tensions rhetorically to draw international attention,” Mr Pant told The Independent, adding that Pakistan is trying to portray itself as a victim to trigger a global intervention before any actual Indian response.

The wife of Atul Mone, who was victim in a deadly attack on tourists in the Pahalgam region of Indian-administered Kashmir, mourns as she stands near her husband's body at Dombivali near Mumbai (AP)

He added: “If India were indeed planning any military operation, it would not be publicly telegraphed.

“If Pakistan is declaring an attack is coming, then India’s element of surprise is already lost. Indian action would likely prioritise strategic surprise, and if such planning is underway, India would keep it tightly under wraps.”

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, in his first public statement following the terror attack, declared that India would “identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.

He said that the "terrorists behind the killings, along with their backers, will get a punishment bigger than they can imagine".

Aayushi Harpalani Udhwani, wife of Niraj Udhwani, who was killed in a suspected militant attack near Pahalgam in south Kashmir, is consoled by relatives during her husband's funeral at a cremation ground in Jaipur (Reuters)More

"Our enemies have dared to attack the country's soul ... India's spirit will never be broken by terrorism."

Pakistan claims it has ‘credible intelligence’ India will strike within 36 hours

Rhea Mogul and Sophia Saifi, CNN
Tue, April 29, 2025 


Indian security officers inspect the site where militants opened fired at tourists in Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, on April 23, 2025. - AP


Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated further after a top Pakistani official claimed early Wednesday to have “credible intelligence” that New Delhi will carry out a military action against Islamabad within the next two days.

The claim came as both the United States and China urged restraint.

“Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends carrying out military action against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in an unusual middle of the night post on X. He did not elaborate on what evidence Pakistan had used to make the claim.

Tarar’s comments come just one week after militants massacred 26 tourists in the mountainous town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, a rampage that has sparked widespread outrage.

India has accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack — a claim Islamabad denies. Pakistan has offered a neutral investigation into the incident.

CNN has contacted India’s defense ministry for response to Tarar’s claims.

Kashmir, one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, is controlled in part by India and Pakistan but both countries claim it in its entirety.

The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars over the mountainous territory that is now divided by a de-facto border called the Line of Control since their independence from Britain nearly 80 years ago.

Last week’s attack sparked immediate widespread anger in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is under tremendous pressure to retaliate with force.

India conducted airstrikes inside Pakistan in 2019 following a major insurgent attack on paramilitary personnel inside Indian-administered Kashmir. It was the first such incursion into Pakistan’s territory since a 1971 war between the two neighbors.

The latest attack on tourists in Kashmir has sparked fears that India might respond in a similar way.

Modi vowed to pursue the attackers “to the ends of the earth” in a fiery speech last week. The massacre set off an escalating tit-for-tat exchange of hostilities between the two countries over the past week.

Pakistan’s Tarar on Wednesday claimed any “military adventurism by India would be responded to assuredly and decisively.”
US and China react

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is urging calm and will speak to his counterparts in India and Pakistan, possibly “as soon as today,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday.

“We are reaching out to both parties, and telling, of course, them to not escalate the situation,” Bruce told reporters, quoting a statement by Rubio.

New Delhi is considered an important partner for Washington as it seeks to counter China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Pakistan is also considered a key US partner.

China, which also claims control of part of Kashmir and has grown closer to Pakistan in recent years, has also urged restraint.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi spoke to Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar last week, saying any conflict between Pakistan and India would “not serve the fundamental interests of each side” and posed a risk to regional security, state broadcaster CGTN reported.

India and China’s relationship has proved fractious in recent years, with clashes at their contested border. Meanwhile, Beijing and Islamabad have strengthened ties, with China continuing to invest in Pakistan under its Belt and Road Initiative.
Tit-for-tat moves

In the days after the Pahalgam attack, both countries swiftly downgraded ties with each other.

India canceled visa of Pakistani nationals, and Pakistan responded with a reciprocal move. Both countries have told diplomats and citizens to return home before April 30.

India has also suspended its participation in a crucial water-sharing pact.

The Indus Water Treaty has been in force since 1960 and is regarded as a rare diplomatic success story between the two fractious neighbors.

The treaty governs the sharing of water from the enormous Indus River system, a vital resource supporting hundreds of millions of livelihoods across Pakistan and northern India. The Indus originates in Tibet and flows through China and Indian-controlled Kashmir before reaching Pakistan.

Islamabad has called any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to Pakistan an act of war.

This week, New Delhi and Islamabad have both been flexing their military might.

Pakistan shot down an Indian drone that was used for “espionage” in the disputed Kashmir region on Tuesday, Pakistani security sources told CNN.

Two days earlier, India’s navy said it had carried out test missile strikes to “revalidate and demonstrate readiness of platforms, systems and crew for long range precision offensive strike.”

Tensions have been also been simmering along the Line of Control and gunfire has been exchanged along the disputed border for six straight nights.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

CNN’s Aishwarya S. Iyer contributed reporting.

A tourist massacre in Kashmir is escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Here’s what we know

Rhea Mogul, Aishwarya S. Iyer and Sophia Saifi, CNN
Mon, April 28, 2025 



Indian security officers inspect the site in Pahalgam where militants opened fire on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. - AP


Relations between India and Pakistan are cratering following a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that has sparked tit-for-tat reprisals and raised fears of another military escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals.

India and Pakistan both control parts of Kashmir but claim it in full, and have fought three wars over the mountainous territory. In 2019, Indian jets bombed targets inside Pakistan after a cross-border militant attack killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel in its part of Kashmir.

All but one of the 26 tourists massacred in the attack on April 22 were Indian citizens. New Delhi swiftly pointed the finger at Pakistan, downgraded ties and suspended its participation in a crucial water-sharing treaty.

Pakistan has denied involvement and said that any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to Pakistan would be considered an act of war.

As tensions escalate, India’s navy said it launched test missile strikes in a show of strength.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue the attackers “to the ends of the earth,” while the United Nations has called on the neighbors to exercise “maximum restraint.”

Here’s what you need to know.

What happened in Pahalgam?

Gunmen opened fire on sightseers in a popular travel destination in the mountainous destination of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir.

At least 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali national were killed in the massacre, which unfolded in a valley only accessible by foot or on horseback.


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Eyewitnesses described scenes of horror as the gunmen approached, opening fire on tourists from close range.


US tells World Court that Israel is not required to work with UN Palestinian refugee agency
Associated Press

Some recalled how the men among the group were singled out and shot at. Other survivors told local media the gunmen accused some of the victims of supporting Prime Minister Modi.

Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government revoked Muslim-majority Kashmir’s constitutional autonomy in 2019, bringing it under the direct control of New Delhi, sparking widespread protests.

What’s the story with Kashmir?

Kashmir has been a flashpoint in India-Pakistan relations since both countries gained their independence from Britain in 1947.

The two nations to emerge from the bloody partition of British India – Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan – both claim Kashmir in full and, months after becoming independent, fought their first of three wars over the territory.

The divided region is now one of the most militarized places in the world.

For decades, several domestic militant groups, demanding either independence for Kashmir or for the area to become part of Pakistan, have fought Indian security forces, in violence that has killed tens of thousands. India says those groups are supported by Pakistan, which Islamabad denies.

Modi’s government has said that militancy has declined since the revocation of Kashmir’s autonomy in 2019. Analysts say the Pahalgam massacre has shattered that message.

Who has claimed responsibility?

It is not clear who is responsible for the Pahalgam attack.

A relatively new militant outfit called Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front (TRF), initially claimed responsibility on social media but it has reportedly since walked back that claim, according to multiple local media reports.

CNN could not independently verify the initial claim, nor the subsequent withdrawal, and has reached out to the Indian army and police in Indian-administered Kashmir for comment.

India has classified TRF as a “terrorist organization” and linked it to the outlawed Islamist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), which was behind the deadly Mumbai attacks in 2008 and has a much higher profile.

Two days after the massacre, police in Indian-administered Kashmir published notices naming three LeT suspects allegedly involved in the attack. Two of the three are Pakistani nationals, according to the notices.

They did not say how the men were identified.

An Indian Border Security Force soldier gestures as Pakistan citizens return to Pakistan through the India-Pakistan Wagah Border Post on April 24, 2025, one day after New Delhi took a raft of punitive diplomatic measures against Islamabad. 

- Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images

How have India and Pakistan responded?

India has justified its retaliatory moves as a response to Pakistan’s alleged “support for cross-border terrorism.”

New Delhi has closed a key border crossing and further restricted already limited visas for Pakistani citizens. It also expelled military, naval and air advisers from the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi.

Additionally, it suspended its role in the Indus Water Treaty, an important water-sharing pact between India and Pakistan that has been in force since 1960 and is regarded as a rare diplomatic success story between the two fractious neighbors.

The enormous Indus River system, which supports hundreds of millions of livelihoods across Pakistan and northern India, originates in Tibet, flowing through China and Indian-controlled Kashmir before reaching Pakistan. The vast volume of water is a vital resource for both countries, and the treaty governs how it is shared.

A Pakistan government statement said any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to Pakistan would be considered an act of war.

Following India’s move, Pakistan said it was suspending trade with India, closing its airspace and expelling Indian diplomats, calling New Delhi’s measures “unilateral, unjust, politically motivated, extremely irresponsible and devoid of legal merit.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on April 26 accused New Delhi of leveling “baseless allegations” against Islamabad and said it was “open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation.”

The next day, India’s navy said it conducted “anti-ship firings” to “revalidate and demonstrate readiness of platforms, systems and crew for long range precision offensive strike,” in a statement on X.

What is the situation like in Kashmir?

Tensions are heightened in Kashmir as Indian security forces continue to search for the suspects in the attack. Indian forces were “engaged in a gunfight with militants” in Bandipora district north of Srinagar during the search, the Indian army corps in Kashmir said on X.

Meanwhile, India’s army chief Gen. Upendra Dwivedi visited Kashmir on April 25 to “to assess the security situation in the region.”

Arshad Najam, 48, a school teacher who lives in Pakistan-administered Kashmir close to the line that divides the territory, said he was on edge.

“We have cleaned our bunker,” he told CNN. “There is fear among people… anything can occur at any moment.”

Thousands have flocked to the streets in recent days to condemn the deadly attacks as business owners express concerns over the impact it has already had on the popular tourist destination during peak season.

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference members attend a protest after tourists were killed, in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Wednesday, April. 23, 2025. 

- Mukhtar Khan/AP

“We all could not just sit by and watch. We came out to show emotion, solidarity, and condemn the killings,” said local resident Umar Nazir Tibetbaqan.

Meanwhile, anti-Pakistan protests have erupted in India’s capital Delhi and several other cities, raising fears of fueling anti-Kashmiri and anti-Muslim sentiment.
What happens next?

All eyes are now on how New Delhi and Islamabad will respond, with analysts fearing the potential for military escalation.

“Modi will have a very strong, if not irresistible, political compulsion to retaliate with force,” said Arzan Tarapore, a research scholar from Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation.

“We don’t know what that would look like, and it’s somewhat meaningless to speculate at this point, but I think the 2019 Balakot crisis provides some cues on what to watch for in India’s response,” Tarapore said, referring to New Delhi’s response to a militant attack on Indian troops which killed at least 40 paramilitary personnel in Indian-administered Kashmir.

New Delhi retaliated by launching airstrikes on Pakistan, the first such incursion into its territory since a 1971 war between the two.

“The key question will be will they seek to impose more meaningful, tangible costs on terrorist groups, including by targeting their leadership or headquarters facilities? Or will India go even further, crossing the threshold to attack the Pakistan army?” Tarapore said.

Esha Mitra contributed reporting. This story has been updated with additional information.

What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?

Rafi Schwartz,

 The Week US
Mon, April 28, 2025 

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The 'scale and targeting' of the Kashmir attack make it 'all but assured' that India will respond 'with muscle'. | Credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images

India and Pakistan inched closer to overt conflict last week after an attack in the Indian-administered Kashmir region left dozens dead and set the two nuclear-armed neighboring nations on the latest collision course. India has threatened to withdraw from the treaty that provides water to the bulk of Pakistan, prompting that country to close its airspace to Indian flights. As both countries continue baring their teeth at one another, where might all this hostility lead?

What did the commentators say?

The "fast-rising tensions" between India and Pakistan have led to a "series of escalating tit-for-tat moves" since the terrorist attack, The Guardian said. As a result, the two nations have moved "closer to military confrontation." The hostilities are "rekindling memories of February 2019 when a car suicide bombing in Kashmir brought the two countries to the verge of war." The two nations have "unleashed a raft of measures" against one another in the last week, said Al Jazeera, and there have been "cross-border skirmishes" involving "small arms fire" across the India-Pakistan border. With "diplomatic, trade and travel links" in the region "already at a low ebb" since 2019, The Economist said, the actions taken in the past few days have been "largely symbolic."


In particular, India's threat to withdraw from the Indus Waters Treaty signifies a "rupture" with "huge symbolic and strategic weight," The New York Times said. Within Pakistan, there is "growing concern" as various Indian figures "hint at the possibility of military strikes," with some Pakistani analysts warning that the "current confrontation could intensify beyond the 2019 standoff." While Pakistan has denied allegations that its government may have played a role in the Kashmir attack, the incident fits a "pattern of terrorist attacks occurring on Indian soil," when the Pakistani military "feels excluded from the geopolitical conversation," said Manjari Chatterjee Miller, a senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. Given the Trump administration's apparent closeness with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, current events "could have given such an impetus."

In Kashmir, "thousands have flocked to the streets" to protest the violence, while business owners "express concerns" over the commercial impact of the attacks on the "popular tourist destination during peak season," CNN said. At the same time, several anti-Pakistan protests have "erupted" in various Indian cities, raising fears of "fueling anti-Kashmiri and anti-Muslim sentiment."

What next?

For India, "military retaliation, at some point in the coming days, is a real possibility," said South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman at Newsweek. The "scale and targeting" of the Kashmir attack make it "all but assured" that India will respond "with muscle."

At the same time, New Delhi's regional rivalry with Beijing and the proximity of all three nations make the shared border the "world's only three-way nuclear junction," said The Associated Press. With China's support of Pakistan and the United States' ongoing backing of India, any India-Pakistani conflict that starts as a bilateral engagement is "unlikely to stay strictly between them, as their strategic partners are likely to get involved." Pakistan has "reinforced" its military forces ahead of an "imminent" action by India, said Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif to Reuters. But the country will only turn to its nuclear arsenal if "there is a direct threat to our existence."

Despite concerns of a wider regional conflict, China is thus far urging India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint," and "meet each other halfway" with "dialogue and consultation" for the sake of "regional peace and stability," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun at Deutsche Welle.

The U.S., meanwhile, has met with Indian and Pakistani officials at "multiple levels" of government, and "encourages all parties to work together towards a responsible resolution," a state department spokesperson said to Reuters. India and Pakistan "work themselves into a frenzy every few years," said Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the U.S., to Reuters. "This time, there is no U.S. interest in calming things down."

India hunts suspects days after deadly Kashmir attack

Neyaz Farooquee - BBC News, Delhi
Mon, April 28, 2025 

Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have demolished the houses of at least 10 alleged militants [Getty Images]


Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have demolished the houses of at least 10 alleged militants and detained more people for questioning as investigations continue into last week's killings of 26 people.

Indian security forces have used explosives to destroy the properties since last Tuesday's attack on tourists. At least one was reportedly linked to a suspect named in the shootings.

India accuses Pakistan of supporting militants behind the killings, but has named no group it blames. Islamabad rejects the allegations.

It was the deadliest attack on civilians in two decades in the disputed territory. Both India and Pakistan claim the region and have fought two wars over it.

Troops from both sides have traded intermittent small-arms fire across the border for the past few days.

Speculation continues over whether India will respond with military strikes against Pakistan, as it did after deadly militant attacks in 2019 and 2016.

Authorities said last week they had conducted extensive searches in Indian-administered Kashmir, detaining more than 1,500 people for questioning since the attack near the tourist town of Pahalgam. More people have been detained since then, although the numbers are unclear.

Officials have not spoken publicly about the demolitions but the houses targeted reportedly belonged to families of alleged militants active in the region or those who have crossed over to Pakistan.

The demolitions at various locations across the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley began last Thursday, with the most recent occurring overnight on Saturday into Sunday.

The region's top leaders have supported action against alleged militants but questioned the demolitions of the homes of suspected militants' families.

Without mentioning the demolitions, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the guilty must be punished without mercy, "but don't let innocent people become collateral damage".

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also criticised the demolitions, cautioning the government to distinguish between "terrorists and civilians".

Last November, India's Supreme Court banned so-called "bulldozer justice", a practice which has been on the rise in recent years in India.

Since the Pahalgam attack, a number of Kashmiri students enrolled in colleges in different parts of India have also reported being attacked or threatened by locals, asking them to leave.

Indian police have named three of four suspected attackers involved in the killings [Getty Images]

Kashmir, which India and Pakistan claim in full but administer only in part, has been a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed countries since they were partitioned in 1947.

Indian-administered Kashmir has seen an armed insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, with militants targeting security forces and civilians alike.

India has not named any group it suspects carried out the attack in Pahalgam and it remains unclear who did it. A little-known group called the Resistance Front, which was initially reported to have claimed it carried out the shootings, issued a statement denying involvement. The front is reportedly affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group.

Indian police have named three of four suspected attackers. They said two were Pakistani nationals and one a local man from Indian-administered Kashmir. There is no information on the fourth man.

Many survivors said the gunmen specifically targeted Hindu men.

The attack has sparked widespread anger in India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly saying the country will hunt the suspects "till the ends of the earth" and that those who planned and carried it out "will be punished beyond their imagination".

Tensions between India and Pakistan rose within hours of the killings, resulting in tit-for-tat measures.

India immediately suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, a World Bank-brokered water sharing agreement between the two countries, prompting protests from Pakistan which said the stoppage or diversion of water would be "considered as an act of war".

Pakistan retaliated further by suspending the 1972 Simla agreement in which both countries had promised to resolve their disputes by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations.

The neighbours have also expelled many of each other's diplomats and revoked civilians' visas - already difficult to procure - leaving many stranded on both sides of the border. At least 500 Pakistani nationals, including diplomats and officials, have left India through the Attari-Wagah land border since the attack.

As tensions spiral, India has alleged firing by Pakistan along the Line of Control, the de facto border between the two countries, for four nights in a row. Pakistan has not confirmed it yet.

On Sunday, Modi repeated his promise to get justice to families of those killed in the attack, saying it was meant to disrupt the normalcy the region was returning to after years of violence.

"The enemies of the country, of Jammu and Kashmir, did not like this," he said in his monthly radio address.

Over the weekend, a US state department spokesperson told Reuters that Washington was in touch with the governments of India and Pakistan and wanted them to work towards a "responsible resolution", while the British foreign secretary David Lammy spoke to his counterparts in India and deputy prime minister in Pakistan.

With additional reporting from Aamir Peerzada and Shafat Farooq in Srinagar

Kashmir leader calls for caution in Indian response after deadly attack

Shivam Patel
Mon, April 28, 2025


Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, consoles the father of Adil Hussain Shah who was killed in a suspected militant attack near Pahalgam, before the funeral prayers in Hapatnard

By Shivam Patel

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - India should not do anything to alienate Kashmiris in its hunt for militants who killed 26 people last week, especially as residents of the Muslim-majority Himalayan region have staged protests against that attack, its chief minister said on Monday.

The April 22 killings of tourists by gunmen from an armed Islamist group have prompted a crackdown on suspected militants in the troubled region, including the demolition of nine homes belonging to the families of suspected Islamist militants.

Hindu-majority India has been fighting an armed insurgency in Kashmir for decades, though in recent years the situation had improved. The picturesque region is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but ruled only in part by the neighbours.

"We should not do anything to alienate the people after their spontaneous reaction (against the attack)," Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the Indian federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said in the local assembly house.

"Guns can only control militancy, not finish it. It will only end when the people are with us. It seems people are now reaching that stage."

He did not elaborate, but several protests, including candlelight demonstrations and a symbolic day long shutdown, were held in the past week in Kashmir against the attack.

Some Kashmir residents have also spoken out against the move by the authorities to destroy several homes of militants' families, like that of Rifat Sheikh.

On Monday, she stood next to her razed kitchen, assessing the damage she said was caused by explosives used by the police to demolish the house.

Police say her brother Asif is with the Lashkar-e-Taiba armed group, which New Delhi has declared a terrorist organisation and is suspected to have had a role in the April 22 attack.

Sheikh said her family had not seen or spoken with Asif after he left home one morning in 2022 on the pretext of going to the local market.

"Why are they punishing us by destroying our house this way for what they say he has done?" she asked. "We don't know where he is or what he is doing. This is provocation, but I pray that people remain calm."

Two police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, say they were only acting against homes that retained connections with militants. They denied using explosives or detaining any members of militants’ families.

Nazir Ahmad Wani's house in Kashmir's Khasipora village was one of the nine homes destroyed so far. Police say his son, Amir Nazir, is a member of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group that India has designated as a terrorist outfit.

Broken pieces of glass lay in the backyard of Wani's home where he grew maize crops. The roof of the house was pulled down due to the impact of the explosives, his relatives said, adding that Amir left the home in April last year and didn't return.

"I was kept at the police station all night. They didn't tell me anything at the time. I only learned of the damage the next morning when I came to the house," said Wani.

(Reporting by Shivam Patel, Editing by William Maclean)


Pakistan says intelligence suggests Indian military action likely soon

Asif Shahzad
Tue, April 29, 2025



FILE PHOTO: A Pakistan flag is seen on Pakistan Rangers Post near the Attari-Wagah border crossing near Amritsar

FILE PHOTO: Border Security Force (BSF) security personnel stand guard at the Attari-Wagah crossing on the India-Pakistan border in Amritsa

ISLAMABAD/SRINAGAR (Reuters) -Pakistan said on Wednesday it has "credible intelligence" that India intends to launch military action soon, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours escalate following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir.

In the April 22 attack, the Islamist assailants segregated men, asked their names and targeted Hindus before shooting them at close range in the Pahalgam area, killing 26 people, officials and survivors said.

India has identified the three attackers, including two Pakistani nationals, as "terrorists" waging a violent revolt in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation.

Hindu-majority India accuses Islamic Pakistan of funding and encouraging militancy in Kashmir, the Himalayan region both nations claim in full but rule in part. Islamabad says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to a Kashmiri demand for self-determination.

The old rivals, born out of the partition of British colonial India in 1947, have taken measures against each other since the attack, with India putting the critical Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines.

Pakistan said it had "credible intelligence" that India intends to carry out military action against it in the "next 24-36 hours on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident".

India's foreign and defence ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement early on Wednesday, Islamabad said it condemned terrorism in all forms and will respond "assuredly and decisively" to any military action from India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue and punish the Pahalgam attackers.

India's cabinet committee on security (CCS), consisting of Modi and his interior, defence, foreign, home and finance ministers, also met on Wednesday, local media reported, its second session since the April 22 attack.

Modi told his military chiefs earlier this week that they have the freedom to decide the country's response to the Pahalgam attack, a government source said.

Small-arms fire between the two armies has spread to more points along the frontier between the two countries.

The Indian army said it responded to "unprovoked" firing from multiple Pakistani army posts around midnight on Tuesday, the sixth consecutive violation of their ceasefire agreement, but did not give further details or report any casualties.

The military operations' chiefs of the two countries also held their weekly conversation by phone on Tuesday, two Indian military sources and a Pakistani official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

"The Indian side objected strongly to unprovoked firing happening from Pakistan," one Indian source said. The Pakistani official did not comment on the content of the conversation.

The Pakistani military did not respond to a request for comment.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in separate phone calls with India and Pakistan, stressed the need to "avoid a confrontation that could result in tragic consequences".

The United States has also urged the two not to escalate tensions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to speak soon with his counterparts in India and Pakistan.

Britain has called for calm between its Indian and Pakistani communities, and advised against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir, with few exceptions.

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar, Shivam Patel and Nigam Prusty in New Delhi, Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; writing by Tanvi Mehta and Sakshi Dayal; editing by Daniel Wallis, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Heinrich)

India shuts over half of Kashmir tourist spots in security review after attack

Fayaz Bukhari and Shivam Patel
Mon, April 28, 2025 


A traditional Shikara boat is seen in the waters of Dal Lake as the Hazratbal shrine is seen in the background in Srinagar

Kashmiri men row a traditional shikara boat on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar

A Kashmiri woman walking on a street is seen through a road blockade in Srinagar


India shuts over half of Kashmir tourist spots in security review after attack
1 of 5
A traditional Shikara boat is seen in the waters of Dal Lake as the Hazratbal shrine is seen in the background in Srinagar


By Fayaz Bukhari and Shivam Patel

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Over half of the tourist destinations in India's insurgency-torn Kashmir region were closed to the public from Tuesday, according to a government order reviewed by Reuters, in a move to tighten security after last week's attack on holiday-makers.

The assailants segregated men, asked their names and targeted Hindus before shooting them at close range in the Pahalgam area, killing 26 people, officials and survivors said


India has identified the three attackers, including two Pakistani nationals, as "terrorists" waging a violent revolt in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation.

Hindu-majority India accuses Islamic Pakistan of funding and encouraging militancy in Kashmir, the Himalayan region both nations claim in full but rule in part. Islamabad says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to a Kashmiri demand for self-determination.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours have increased since the attack, along with calls in India for action against Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Indian military chiefs on Tuesday at his residence, along with the Indian defence minister and the national security adviser, a government source said. Modi, the source said, told the military chiefs that they had the freedom to decide India's response to the Pahalgam attack.

Delhi and Islamabad have taken a raft of measures against each other since the Kashmir attack. India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty - an important river-sharing pact. Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian airlines.

The government of India's Jammu and Kashmir territory has decided to shut 48 of the 87 tourist destinations in Kashmir and has enhanced security at the remaining ones, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters.

No time frame for the closures was given. Government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nestled in the Himalayas with lofty peaks, picturesque valleys and grand Mughal-era gardens, Kashmir has been emerging as India's tourism hotspot as violence there has waned in recent years.

But the Pahalgam attack has left panic-stricken tourists seeking an early exit at the start of the busy summer season.

Shooting has also increased along the 740-km (460-mile) de facto border separating the Indian and Pakistani areas of Kashmir.

On Tuesday, for the fifth consecutive day, the Indian army said it had responded to "unprovoked" small arms fire from multiple Pakistan army posts around midnight.

It gave no further details and reported no casualties. The Pakistani military did not respond to a request for comment.

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters on Monday that a military incursion by India was imminent and it had reinforced its forces in preparation.

Indian military authorities have identified attempts by Pakistan-based hackers to infiltrate four websites associated with the military and harvest information, including a website of an organisation tasked with building homes for serving and retired Indian Army personnel, two officials familiar with the matter said.

(Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar and Shivam Patel in New Delhi; writing by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Dozens of tourist resorts in Indian-controlled Kashmir are closed after deadly attack

AIJAZ HUSSAIN and SHEIKH SAALIQ
Tue, April 29, 2025 


Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol as they guard at a busy market in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)ASSOCIATED PRESS

A locked garden gate is seen in Srinagar after it was closed by authorities as a precautionary safety measure following last week's deadly attack on tourists near the resort town of Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol as they guard at a busy market in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)ASSOCIATED PRESS

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir temporarily closed dozens of the tourist resorts in the scenic Himalayan region after last week’s deadly attack on tourists raised tensions between India and Pakistan and led to an intensifying security crackdown in Kashmir.

At least two police officers and three administrative officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy, said Tuesday that the decision to shut 48 of the 87 government-authorized resorts was a safety precaution. They did not specify how long these places would be out of bounds for visitors.

The decision comes a week after gunmen killed 26 people, most of them Indian tourists, near the resort town of Pahalgam.

The massacre set off tit-for-tat diplomatic measures between India and Pakistan that included cancellation of visas and a recall of diplomats. New Delhi also suspended a crucial water sharing treaty with Islamabad and ordered its border shut with Pakistan. In response, Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian airlines.

India accuses Pakistan of backing the attack

India has described the massacre as a “terror attack” and accused Pakistan of backing it. Pakistan has denied any connection to the attack, and it was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance.

Some tourists who survived the massacre have told Indian media that the gunmen singled out Hindu men and shot them from close range. The dead included a Nepalese citizen and a local Muslim pony ride operator.

Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. New Delhi describes all militancy in Indian-controlled Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism. Pakistan denies this, and many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a home-grown freedom struggle.

Tensions spike between India and Pakistan

As tensions escalate, cross-border firing between soldiers of India and Pakistan has also increased along the Line of Control, the de facto frontier that separates Kashmiri territory between the two rivals. On Tuesday, the Indian army in a statement said it had responded to “unprovoked” small arms fire from multiple Pakistan army posts for a fifth consecutive night.

The incidents could not be independently verified. In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border skirmishes in the Himalayan region.

Early Wednesday, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad had credible intelligence that India intended to carry out military action against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours over the “baseless and concocted allegations of involvement” in the Pahalgam attack.

He said in the statement that Pakistan would respond to any such action and the responsibility for any consequences of the escalation lay with India.

Indian officials had no immediate comment.

The U.S. State Department called for deescalation and said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be speaking soon to the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers.

Pakistani troops shot down a small Indian spy drone that flew hundreds of meters into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, three Pakistani security officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity as they weren’t allowed to speak to the media. The drone was shot down on Monday in the border town of Bhimber, they said.

Meanwhile, government forces in the region have detained and questioned nearly 2,000 people, officials and residents said. Many of the detained are former rebels fighting against Indian rule and others who officials describe as “over ground workers” of militants, a term authorities use for civilians suspected of associating with insurgents.

Indian soldiers have demolished the family homes of at least nine suspected militants across Kashmir, using explosives.

The region’s top pro-India leaders have supported action against suspected militants but also questioned the demolitions.

Omar Abdullah, the region’s chief minister, said Monday that any heavy-handed tactics against civilians should be avoided. “We should not take any step that will alienate people,” Abdullah told the region’s lawmakers during a legislative session.

Ruhullah Mehdi, a lawmaker from the region in India’s national parliament, termed the demolitions of homes as “collective punishment.”

Cancellations overwhelm Kashmir tourism industry

Indian tourism has flourished in Kashmir after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government promoted visits to the region with the hope of showing rising tourism numbers as a sign of renewed stability there.

Millions of visitors arrive in Kashmir to see its Himalayan foothills and exquisitely decorated houseboats, despite regular skirmishes between insurgents and government forces. According to official data, close to 3 million tourists visited the region in 2024, a rise from 2.71 million visitors in 2023 and 2.67 million in 2022.

But last week's attack has left many tourists scared and some have left the region. Widespread cancellations are also being reported by tour operators, with some estimates putting the number at more than 1 million.

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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.