Review by Dr Mahesh Ranjan Debata (June 20, 2024): Historically, culturally and emotionally, Kashmir and Xinjiang have been intertwined for the past 2,000 years. Until 1949, Xinjiang was India's overland trade route to Central Asia and beyond.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s remarks during a live news interview, that his country has been doing “dirty work” for the West for the last three decades, was a stunning admission on Islamabad’s long history of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations. A decade ago, former army chief and president General Pervez Musharraf made a similar confession on public television, bragging about Pakistan’s role in supporting and training militant groups in Kashmir’s freedom struggle.
It is increasingly evident that each time the relations between India and Pakistan improve, India-focused jihadist groups from across the Pakistani border attempt to disrupt it with attacks in the Indian states of Kashmir, Punjab, and elsewhere. The inevitable aim of these is to upset the possibility of amicable dialogue between these two populous and nuclear-armed nations.
Read about Pakistan's Frankenstein’s monster, Mast Gul"Legendary Kashmiri Militant Mast Gul Reemerges after Long Hibernation" , Militant Leadership Monitor [June 2014 Volume V, Issue 6] [Animesh Roul]
"Indian Investigations Reveal Funding System for Promoting Jihad in Kashmir" , Terrorism Monitor (Jamestown Foundation) Volume: 12 Issue: 7, April 4, 2014.