IPPNW has been deeply troubled by the escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan over the long-disputed Kashmir region. Three of the four wars the two countries have fought since partition in 1947 have started in Kashmir. With both sides now armed with nuclear weapons, a fifth major war could plunge the region–and the entire world–into Armageddon.
In February, a suicide bombing in Kashmir sparked a new round of recrimination and retaliation. In response, IPPNW called upon the Indian and Pakistani prime min-isters to take immediate steps to reduce tensions and the risk of nuclear war.
The conflict worsened dramatically in August after the Indian government seized control of Kashmir, sending in thousands of troops, cutting all communi-cation lines, and arresting political leaders.
Kashmir’s 70-year status as a semi-autonomous region was suddenly over.
India’s Minister of Defense, Rajnath Singh, exacerbated the situation when he signaled that Indian might abandon its long-standing pledge not to use nuclear weapons first in a military confrontation.
Most recently, India formally divided the disputed Jammu and Kashmir state into two territories, to be directly ruled from New Delhi, sparking yet more violence and political turmoil.
The potential consequences of further mil-itary escalation are dire. IPPNW has called on the political leadership to initiate diplo-matic talks to end the decades-old conflict.
Dr. Arun Mitra, IPPNW’s Indian co-presi-dent said, “India and Pakistan must end their border clash before it engulfs the world. Leaders from both sides must sit down to finally resolve their issues peace-fully at the negotiating table and to take immediate steps to reduce and eliminate the threat that their nuclear weapons pose to all humanity.”
IPPNW’s Indian affiliate also has been among the very few voices speaking out about the human impact that the deterio-rating political and military situation is hav-ing on the local population.
IPPNW co-president and nucler famine expert Ira Helfand warned that an exchange of nuclear weapons between the two countries would not only quickly kill millions in the region, but would also cause an unprecedented global catastro-phe. Soot lofted into the upper atmos-phere as a result of firestorms created by nuclear explosions would severely disrupt the global climate, leading to worldwide crop shortages and mass starvation affecting more than a quarter of the world’s population.
“All the nuclear-armed states, including India and Pakistan, need to comply with the prohibitions spelled out in the ban treaty and eliminate their nuclear weapons,” Dr. Helfand said.
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