India-Pakistan Relations Post-Article 370: Security Implications and Diplomatic Tensions

Abstract

The Indian government's Article 370 revocation in August 2019 did a significant constitutional and geopolitical significantly impacted on the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This article explores the prospective security risks and diplomatic tensions of the summary noted resulting from this abolishment and places a review of why India and Pakistan view this action as they do and their respective responses. India sees this process of taking back Article 370 as an internal event related to regional assimilation and terrorism. According to Pakistan it is violation of international law in dispute with India's territorial integrity and an action that puts regional stability in jeopardy. Informed by historical context, this manuscript will review select military-strategic, cross-border militant, and international-diplomatic contexts in how the post-Article 370 context is started to shape bilateral relations between these two nuclear powers. Another area of focus will be on the role of key international players, China and the United States' involvement in Kashmir and the possibility of further escalation. Although any significant chance of escalation continues to loom large, it will conclude by suggesting that while direct confrontation has been averted, passive strategic ambiguity, strategic diplomatic isolation, and unresolved nationalist grievances continue to operate as deterrents to any chance of peace in the South Asian region.