A Beautiful Battlefield

Recently, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) included 'Gilgit-Baltistan' area into its list of weather forecasting broadcasts. This has once again flared up situation on the LOC (Line Of Control), one of world's most tense borders between India and Pakistan. Formerly called The Northern Areas, this area is now been administered by the Pakistan as an administrative territory. It also forms the northern portion of Kashmir region, which is a subject of dispute and even The Kargil Conflict in 1999. This region also is the home to important POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) cities like Mirpur, Muzaffrabad and Gilgit. So, what has suddenly brought it into attention? Well, two main reasons constitute towards this sudden interest. First, many intelligence reports have constantly shown this region to be a staging area for radical extremists for planning attacks in Indian side of Kashmir. An outcome of this is that 9 soldiers, including two officers, were killed in a single day on May 3, while till date, 64 extremists have been gunned down. All of them had links to getting trained in Northern Kashmir. Second comes the ambition of the current Modi government's ambitious endeavors. With a section of televised and print visibly favoring these adventures with a jingoism more frequently seen only by the KCNA (Korean Central News Agency; North Korean). With scrapping of Articles 370 and 35A, they've cunningly showed their will to dominate the region by taking away the autonomy state of Jammu And Kashmir celebrated. Furthermore, by re-structuring the state they've also shifted the religious sections into a more favorable position. This itself is a testimony to the growing ambitions of the current government. So, the big question remains- what is coming out of this? And what will the implications be? Because superpowers are aiming at the next big defense deal India might sign with them, will this event be overlooked? Or will this conflict go on as regular, with youngsters pelting stones and turning into extremists and soldiers getting martyred as expendables? Only time will tell.