The recent attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which left 26 people dead and over 20 injured, has been widely interpreted as another attempt by Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir issue, strategically timed to coincide with high-profile foreign visits to India.

The assault, carried out by militants of The Resistance Front (TRF)—an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba—targeted tourists and was one of the deadliest in the region since the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.

The attack’s timing overlapped with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Saudi Arabia and the visit of US Vice President JD Vance to India, suggesting a deliberate effort to draw global attention to the Kashmir dispute and hyphenate India-Pakistan relations in the eyes of international stakeholders.

Experts on Pakistan’s India policy suggest that the Pakistani military, frustrated by diminishing global focus on both Pakistan and the Kashmir issue, may have orchestrated or facilitated the attack to force the hand of influential capitals like Riyadh and Washington.

The objective appears to be to garner sympathy or support from the Arab world and the West, leveraging the violence to reignite international debate over Kashmir. However, this gambit has largely backfired diplomatically. The United States, under President Donald Trump, quickly condemned the attack and expressed full support for India, committing to help bring the perpetrators to justice. Similarly, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, despite recent diplomatic engagement with Pakistan, issued strong statements backing India’s right to respond as it deemed appropriate.

Over the past decade, Pakistan’s influence among Gulf and broader Arab states has waned, with only routine statements on Kashmir coming from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and even within the OIC, key Central Asian and Southeast Asian members remain tepid towards Pakistan’s proposals on Kashmir.

In the aftermath of the attack, India took several strong measures: suspending the Indus Water Treaty, expelling Pakistani nationals and military advisors, and reducing diplomatic staff in both countries. These actions underscore India’s resolve to hold Pakistan accountable for what it calls “cross-border terrorism” and to prevent the internationalisation of the Kashmir issue through violent provocations.

While Pakistan’s apparent strategy was to globalise the Kashmir issue by exploiting the timing of major diplomatic visits, the international response has overwhelmingly supported India, isolating Pakistan further and diminishing the effectiveness of such tactics in shifting the global narrative on Kashmir.

ET News