Kashmir Situation: India, Pakistan Must Restrain Selves to Prevent a Chain of Retaliation

Editorial

17:27 JST, May 9, 2025

A military clash between India and Pakistan, which have repeatedly engaged in warfare, is escalating once again.

A situation must be avoided at any cost in which the two countries, which possess nuclear weapons, fall into a chain of retaliation that could develop into an all-out conflict. Both sides are urged to exercise the utmost restraint.

The Indian military attacked Pakistani-controlled areas in Kashmir, a disputed region over which India and Pakistan have claimed territorial rights, and elsewhere. It claims the attack was in “retaliation” for a shooting terrorist attack in late April in Indian-controlled Kashmir, in which 26 people, including Indian tourists, were killed by an armed group.

The Indian government has determined that the attack was carried out by an offshoot of a Pakistani-based Islamic extremist organization. The government claims that the attack by the Indian military targeted a total of nine locations, including “terrorist camps,” and that civilians were not targeted.

Pakistan, however, has countered that mosques and other sites were targeted and that more than 80 people, including children, were killed or injured. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has declared that he will take revenge. After the attack by India, the Pakistani military fired on Indian-controlled Kashmir, and shooting between the two militaries continues.

If engagements escalate further, more victims are inevitable. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharif must urgently embark on dialogue to ease tensions.

With local elections scheduled for this autumn, the Modi administration is seeking to expand support with its hard-line stance toward Pakistan. But it does not want an all-out clash that would damage the economy. For Pakistan, too, its true intention would probably be to avoid a large-scale battle with India, which has an advantage in conventional forces.

However, India and Pakistan have clashed constantly, including in three wars, since their partition and independence from British colonial rule in 1947, and mutual distrust between the peoples of the two countries is deep-rooted.

The two countries possess around 170 nuclear warheads each. The possibility cannot be ruled out that acts of terrorism or other incidents could trigger a situation beyond their control. If that were to happen, the risk of the use of nuclear weapons would increase.

It is worrisome that the United States, which has played the role of mediator in past conflicts between India and Pakistan, is not taking active moves this time.

U.S. President Donald Trump said: “I want to see it stop. And if I can do anything to help, I will be there.” However, he is probably too busy mediating efforts to negotiate peace over Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the fighting in the Palestinian territory of Gaza to have time to deal with the new conflict.

Japan has built good relations with both India and Pakistan. Japan should strongly urge both countries to calm the situation through dialogue in cooperation with European countries and China, which boasts influence over Pakistan.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 9, 2025)