Pakistan PM vows to “teach Modi a lesson” . . .
Throughout the events surrounding the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A, the Pakistani government and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have been actively vocal in the press and in social media over the actions of the Indian Government. The Kashmir region was split between India and Pakistan during the 1947 Partition of India and has been separated by a de facto border known as the line of control, despite both India and Pakistan laying claim to the entirety of the region. Since then, the region has been host both to intermittent wars between the two nuclear-armed nations and to continued, deadly civil unrest.
Relations at an all-time low . . .
PM Khan, who campaigned on countering rising Hindu nationalism in India prior to becoming prime minister a year ago, condemned the actions of the Indian Government while suspending all trade with India and downgrading its diplomatic relations with New Delhi. On Twitter, Khan has also likened the actions made by the Indian government to that of Hitler and Nazi Germany, alleging that India has opened the door for ethnic cleansing in the Muslim-majority state. The leader of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir today also announced that his state will now recognize the line of control as a cease-fire line, while PM Khan visited the region and announced that the Pakistani army stands ready to fight back against India if the line is breached.
Challenges abound for Pakistan . . .
While Pakistan has quickly attempted to internationalize the actions by the Indian Government in the Kashmir region, issues regarding terrorism and insurgency from Afghanistan, along with weak macroeconomic stability, continue to remain major domestic issues that Khan has to simultaneously address. Given India’s large and growing economic influence throughout the world, Pakistan faces an uphill battle in drumming up support from allies, with one major, notable exception: China.
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