Kashmir should be an earthly paradise. Instead, the mountainous province is wedged like a bloody jewel between three of the world’s nuclear powers.
Kashmir is controlled by India, but religion aligns most of its population with Pakistan. The tension has caused endless skirmishing in this beautiful battle-weary state. China looks on, leaning now to India’s side, now to Pakistan’s. Late next week, Pakistan’s General Musharaff and India’s Prime Minister Vajpayee will meet in what some say could provide the first sensible communication on Kashmir in decades.
Skeptics assert that little can come of any conversation without intervention. Meanwhile, Kashmiris remain trapped on a religious and ideological battlefield that is somehow their home.
(Hosted by Dick Gordon)
Guests:
Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, director of the South Asia program at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University
Andrew Whitehead, BBC Correspondent, previously based in South Asia
Devesh Kapur, Associate Professor of Government at Harvard University