Trump’s mediation offer renews focus on Kashmir after India-Pakistan
clash risked broader war
[May 13, 2025]
By AIJAZ HUSSAIN and SHEIKH SAALIQ
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A series of military strikes last week by India
and Pakistan brought the nuclear-armed rivals closer to a broader war.
The possibility of a nuclear conflagration seemed real and the fighting
only stopped when global powers intervened.
Experts say the crisis deepened the neighbors' rivalry as both crossed a
threshold with each striking the other with high-speed missiles and
drones. The tit-for-tat strikes also brought Kashmir again into global
focus, as the U.S. President Donald Trump offered mediation over the
simmering dispute that has long been described as the regional nuclear
flashpoint.
Paul Staniland, South Asia expert and a professor of political science
at the University of Chicago, said the four days of fighting shows that
“India now feels substantial space to directly target Pakistan, as well
as that Pakistan is willing to escalate in response.”
Unlike in past years, when fighting was largely limited to Kashmir, the
two armies last week fired missiles and drones at each other’s military
installations deep inside their cities and exchanged gunfire and heavy
artillery along their frontier in Kashmir.
Dozens of people were killed on both sides. Each claimed it inflicted
heavy damage on the other and said its strikes met the country’s
objectives.
Trump touts a possible ‘solution’ for Kashmir
The fighting began Wednesday after India retaliated for last month's
attack that killed 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, in Kashmir, a
Himalayan territory claimed in entirety by both nations. India blamed
Pakistan for supporting the attackers, an accusation Islamabad denied,
saying no evidence was shared.
The Indian military said it could again strike Pakistan if it felt
threatened. Pakistan’s military also warned against any violation of the
country’s sovereignty and vowed to respond.
Pakistan and India have fought two wars over Kashmir and the specter of
two nuclear-armed foes once again trading blows over the region alarmed
international community. Trump on Saturday broke news that the two
countries had agreed to stop fighting after U.S.-led talks. On Sunday,
Trump once again offered to help and said he will work to provide a
“solution” regarding the dispute over Kashmir.
Pakistan thanked the U.S and Trump for facilitating the ceasefire.
India, however, has not said anything about Trump's mediation offer and
only acknowledged the ceasefire was reached after military contacts with
Pakistan.
[to top of second column]
|
A villager shows the wall of his house riddled with shrapnels from
Pakistani artillery shelling at RS Pura, along the International
Border, India, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Trump’s Kashmir offer also provoked criticism against Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's government, which has insisted Kashmir is India's
internal issue and had opposed any third-party intervention, arguing
it was fighting “Pakistan’s proxy war.”
Pakistan is trying to raise Kashmir as global issue
Pakistan’s position is that divided Kashmir is an internationally
recognized dispute and must be solved according to the U.N.
resolutions and wishes of Kashmiri people.
South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman called Trump’s offer “a
diplomatic coup for Pakistan.”
“A core and consistent Pakistani foreign policy goal is to
internationalize the Kashmir issue. And that’s exactly what has
happened here, much to the chagrin of an Indian government that
takes a rigid position that the issue is settled and there’s nothing
to discuss,” he said.
Meanwhile, people on both sides of the border have heaved a sigh of
relief after the ceasefire but some insisted a lasting peace will
only be possible if Kashmir dispute is solved.
Praveen Donthi, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group,
said “the two countries have to give Kashmiris a chair at the table
of negotiations for a more durable peace process and faster
resolution of the problem.” He said Kashmiris have lost more lives
due to the conflict than government forces on both sides.
"They always have more to lose … in the absence of mechanisms that
resolve the Kashmir dispute,” Donthi said.
For residents in Kashmir, the dispute is not just about India and
Pakistan, or mere geopolitics and diplomacy, but about survival and
peace.
“Let's be honest, India and Pakistan are fighting over Kashmir. So
let it be resolved once and forever,” said student Shazia Tabbasum.
___
Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this
report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
