Tom O'Connor
India has doubled down on defenses along its de facto border with Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region out of concern over a potential surprise swarm attack by militants inspired by the Palestinian Hamas movement's successful infiltration of Israel.
"The employment of innovative means by Hamas while attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, has raised alarm among security agencies across the world," an Indian Army spokesperson told Newsweek.
"Requisite measures have been instituted along the Line of Control and International Border Sectors to thwart any such malafide attempts from across the Western Border," the spokesperson added.
The Line of Control is a sprawling, nearly 500-mile boundary that divides nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan across Kashmir. As is the case with the far smaller 40-mile barrier that separates Israel and the Hamas-held Gaza Strip, the Line of Control has been the scene of frequent insurgent activity as well as a number of high-profile clashes and all-out wars.
But with Hamas' shock October assault sparking the deadliest-ever flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence that remains ongoing to this day, the spokesperson outlined some of the steps that have been taken to address emergent threats in the stretch Kashmir it administers, officially known as Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), as growing unrest in the Middle East threatens to spill over into South Asia.
A member of India's security forces stands guard atop an armored vehicle in Srinagar, summer capital of the India-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on January 25, 2024, the eve of India's Republic Day celebrations.TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES"The Indian Army has established robust Counter Infiltration and Terror Grids in J&K in synchronization with other stakeholders," the Indian Army spokesperson explained.
"Adequate troops are deployed in the grid along with niche technology equipment with the capability to dynamically readjust based on emerging operational situation," the spokesperson continued. "Technological infusion has been undertaken to counter emerging drone/quadcopter threats, in concert with other stakeholders."
Security measures in India-administered Kashmir were drastically increased after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to revoke the region's semi-autonomous status in August 2019. The move, along with an ensuing crackdown designed to stamp out a decades-long insurgency waged by separatist groups, sparked international controversy, as well as outrage from Pakistan, which saw the move as a unilateral violation of attempts to settle Kashmir's political status.
New Delhi, however, has long accused Islamabad of sponsoring various militias with Islamist and separatist agendas across the Line of Control, and now views with suspicion efforts by Pakistani officials to draw connections between the Kashmiri and Palestinian struggles for independence.
"Pakistan continues to innovate and adapt its proxy war in J&K to keep the pot boiling and present a disturbed situation in J&K," the Indian Army spokesperson said. "While so far, there have been no major attempts to link the two issues, the same cannot be ruled out in an attempt by Pakistan to highlight the Kashmir issue in the international fora."
The two issues do, in fact, share some common roots. The bloody partition that gave birth to the rivalry between the modern nations of India and Pakistan and the territorial dispute that sparked the Israeli-Palestinian conflict both followed the United Kingdom's withdrawals from colonial holdings in 1947 and 1948, respectively.
While New Delhi has historically expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause and became the first non-Arab nation to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1974, India has strengthened political, economic and even security ties with Israel since establishing official relations in 1992. Pakistan, on the hand, has never recognized Israel, and its support for Palestinians has been bolstered by commonalities with the Kashmir issue.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Pakistani Permanent Representative to the United Nations Munir Akram asserted that "the Palestinian cause and Kashmir cause have been intertwined historically, but also because they depend on the same central principle of self-determination."
The senior Pakistani diplomat argued that "the application of the principle of self-determination, if it succeeds in Palestine, will be a great boost to the application of the principle for Jammu and Kashmir."
Akram rebuffed India's accusations that his nation was behind militant activity in Kashmir and instead accused New Delhi of waging its own "hybrid war" through conventional means as well as the backing of non-state actors such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP], also known as the Pakistani Taliban, and Balochi separatists.
Kashmiri Muslims hold signs as they chant slogans against Israel and the U.S. during a protest against Israel's military operations in Gaza, on October 13, 2023, less than a week after a Hamas-led air, land... MoreYAWAR NAZIR/GETTY IMAGESThe dueling accusations come amid rising tensions kindled by a spike in militant activity across the region.
Iran and Pakistan, in particular, have suffered a series of deadly attacks by groups pushing ethnic separatist and Islamist agendas, including the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), in recent years, especially since the Afghan Taliban's takeover over neighboring Afghanistan.
Though Tehran and Islamabad have historically sought to cooperate on the issue, frustrations boiled over last month when Iran conducted missile attacks against alleged positions of the Jaish al-Adl militant group on Pakistani territory, and Pakistani forces retaliated with strikes against alleged Baluchi rebel sites in Iran. The two nations have since sought to mend their frayed ties, but militant attacks continue to undermine regional security.
At a time when the war in Gaza was also prompting violent ripple effects, with non-state actors aligned with Iran's "Axis of Resistance" in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen opening new fronts, Indian and Pakistani officials have expressed concerns over the potential second-order effects for their own region.
"The security situation in the Middle East has a bearing on overall security situation in the region including India," the Indian Army spokesperson said.
"The Indian Army remains cognizant of developments in the international security arena including the Middle East and adequate safeguards are put in place," the spokesperson added, "along with a whole-of-government approach, to meet the emerging challenges."
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