Pakistan halts plan for partial restart of India imports
April 1, 2021
Pakistan had attempted to restart limited trade with its rival on Wednesday. Trade was halted between the two countries after India's actions in Kashmir in 2019.
Advertisement
Pakistan's government put a hold on restarting limited imports of sugar, cotton and wheat from India until India reviews its 2019 decision to revoke the Kashmir region's special status.
Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had given the go ahead on Wednesday to bring in imports, which would have ended nearly 20 months of trade suspension between the rivals.
"It was a consensus decision, including the prime minister, that as long as India doesn't review the August 5, 2019, unilateral steps it took, it wouldn't be possible to normalize relations with India," said Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
However, the decision to halt the imports was deferred for the time being, not completely overturned.
"There was a debate (in the cabinet), and I tell you a majority isn't in favor that we start trade with India without talking about the Kashmir issue," an anonymous source told Reuters.
What is Kashmir, and what changed in 2019?
Kashmir is a territory that is claimed by both India and Pakistan and partly controlled by each, with China also controlling the most remote segment of the region. India and Pakistan fought two of their three wars over the Kashmir region.
India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
India and Pakistan continue to clash over Kashmir, a volatile Himalayan region that has been experiencing an armed insurgency for nearly three decades. Many Kashmiris are now fed up with both Islamabad and New Delhi.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Mustafa
An unprecedented danger?
On February 27, Pakistan's military said that it had shot down two Indian fighter jets over disputed Kashmir. A Pakistani military spokesman said the jets were shot down after they'd entered Pakistani airspace. It is the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have conducted air strikes against each other.
Image: Reuters/D. Ismail
India drops bombs inside Pakistan
The Pakistani military has released this image to show that Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistani territory for the first time since the countries went to war in 1971. India said the air strike was in response to a recent suicide attack on Indian troops based in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan said there were no casualties and that its airforce repelled India's aircraft.
Image: AFP/ISPR
No military solution
Some Indian civil society members believe New Delhi cannot exonerate itself from responsibility by accusing Islamabad of creating unrest in the Kashmir valley. A number of rights organizations demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government reduce the number of troops in Kashmir and let the people decide their fate.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Mustafa
No end to the violence
On February 14, at least 41 Indian paramilitary police were killed in a suicide bombing near the capital of India-administered Kashmir. The Pakistan-based Jihadi group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility. The attack, the worst on Indian troops since the insurgency in Kashmir began in 1989, spiked tensions and triggered fears of an armed confrontation between the two nuclear-armed powers.
Image: IANS
A bitter conflict
Since 1989, Muslim insurgents have been fighting Indian forces in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir - a region of 12 million people, about 70 percent of whom are Muslim. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
India strikes down a militant rebellion
In October 2016, the Indian military has launched an offensive against armed rebels in Kashmir, surrounding at least 20 villages in Shopian district. New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing the militants, who cross over the Pakistani-Indian "Line of Control" and launch attacks on India's paramilitary forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/C. Anand
Death of a Kashmiri separatist
The security situation in the Indian part of Kashmir deteriorated after the killing of Burhan Wani, a young separatist leader, in July 2016. Protests against Indian rule and clashes between separatists and soldiers have claimed hundreds of lives since then.
Image: Reuters/D. Ismail
The Uri attack
In September 2016, Islamist militants killed at least 17 Indian soldiers and wounded 30 in India-administered Kashmir. The Indian army said the rebels had infiltrated the Indian part of Kashmir from Pakistan, with initial investigations suggesting that the militants belonged to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group, which has been active in Kashmir for over a decade.
Image: UNI
Rights violations
Indian authorities banned a number of social media websites in Kashmir after video clips showing troops committing grave human rights violations went viral on the Internet. One such video that showed a Kashmiri protester tied to an Indian army jeep — apparently as a human shield — generated outrage on social media.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/
Demilitarization of Kashmir
Those in favor of an independent Kashmir want Pakistan and India to step aside and let the Kashmiri people decide their future. "It is time India and Pakistan announce the timetable for withdrawal of their forces from the portions they control and hold an internationally supervised referendum," Toqeer Gilani, the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in Pakistani Kashmir, told DW.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Singh
No chance for secession
But most Kashmir observers don't see it happening in the near future. They say that while the Indian strategy to deal strictly with militants and separatists in Kashmir has partly worked out, sooner or later New Delhi will have to find a political solution to the crisis. Secession, they say, does not stand a chance.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Mustafa
11 images1 | 11
Pakistan halted trade and diplomatic ties with India in 2019 after India imposed direct rule on the part of the region it administers and imposed strict security controls there in anticipation of unrest at the decision.
The region had previously been semi-autonomous, with its own constitution. The situation in Kashmir was so intense that European lawmakers held crisis talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Both countries withdrew their diplomats and consulate staff due to the incident.
Despite their rivalry, Pakistan had been one of the leading buyers of Indian cotton until 2019.
In February, both countries agreed to continue a ceasefire at the often-tense Kashmir border. Bloomberg reported last week that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) brokered back-channel talks between the two nations.
"The government has not taken any decision for resumption of trade with India," said Pakistan science and technology minister Fawad Chaudhry.
Will Kashmir's young politicians bring hope to the region?