ISLAMABAD – A US think-tank has warned that the specter of nuclear warhaunts tensions between India and Pakistan and the disputed territory ofKashmir could provide the spark that lights South Asia’s nuclear fuse.
The report by Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence platform based inAustin, Texas, also disputes the classification of Kashmir issue as India’sinternal affair or a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.
According to the report, the possibility of the conflict going nuclear hasincreased after Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement ofabandoning India’s “no first use” doctrine.
The report says decades ago, the people of Kashmir were promised aplebiscite that never took place.
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It points out that last February, Pakistan downed an Indian fighter jet butreturned its pilot. However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did notacknowledge Islamabad’s conciliatory gesture nor his government has beenwilling to discuss the Kashmir issue, whose people were promised aplebiscite on their future.
