As Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan prepares to deliver yet another appeal this week to the world to address the plight of Kashmir. He faces growing backlash and the risk that anger in Pakistan’s portion of the disputed region could spiral into a confrontation with India.
Kashmir has been Pakistan’s single most pressing foreign policy issue since it split off from India at the end of British rule in 1947. Both countries claim the disputed mountain region in full, an issue sparking two of their three wars.
Regional tensions have swelled since India stripped its portion of Kashmir of autonomy in August 2019, made mass arrests, limited communications and imposed curfew-like restrictions in some areas to contain a decades-long uprising against India’s rule.