Gilgit-Baltistan borders China, Afghanistan and Kashmir (image credit: Al Jazeera)
The Global Peace Index (GPI) 2025 has laid bare what many in South Asia have long feared and what the world has too often ignored: India’s militarization of Jammu and Kashmir is not only a gross human rights tragedy—it is a direct threat to regional and global peace. In naming Kashmir a major nuclear flashpoint, the report sends a chilling message: if left unchecked, India’s actions could ignite a war with catastrophic consequences.
Far from being a domestic matter, as India frequently claims, Kashmir has once again emerged as an urgent international concern. The GPI’s findings shatter the illusion of “normalcy” that New Delhi has tried to project since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019. Instead, what the world sees is a heavily militarized territory, stripped of autonomy, oppressed by force, and inching toward explosive instability.
According to the report, India has deployed an estimated 500,000 troops in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), making it the most militarized zone on the planet. This figure does not include the 130,000 local police officers, paramilitary personnel, and special units like the Rashtriya Rifles, all of whom form an iron grid of surveillance and control.
In contrast, Pakistan’s presence in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) consists of a modest 60,000 troops primarily tasked with defense along the Line of Control (LoC). The disparity speaks volumes. While IIOJK resembles a war zone under siege, AJK remains largely peaceful and demilitarized—a living repudiation of India’s claim that Kashmir requires militarized governance.
Since 1989, over 40,000 people have died in Kashmir due to Indian security operations, according to the GPI report. These are not just numbers—they represent decades of trauma, broken families, and the systematic erosion of Kashmiri identity and autonomy. The GPI calls attention to this ongoing tragedy, recognizing the violent and oppressive reality that India has tried to sanitize through censorship, internet blackouts, and propaganda. August 2019 was a defining moment in this saga. India unilaterally revoked Articles 370 and 35A, dismantling the constitutional autonomy of Kashmir. What followed was a sharp escalation in arrests, curfews, surveillance, and repression—an attempt to erase not just political dissent, but Kashmiri identity itself. Instead of integration, India imposed subjugation.
In May 2025, India crossed yet another red line by launching a missile strike into Pakistani territory in response to an armed attack in Pahalgam. The GPI’s use of the term “gunmen” for the attackers is significant—it subtly but firmly rejects India’s habitual labeling of all Kashmiri resistance as terrorism. This lexical shift matters: it signals a global reassessment of the Kashmir narrative.
India’s missile strike, unprovoked and unnecessary, brought South Asia to the brink of a devastating conflict. That Pakistan did not respond in kind is a testament to its diplomatic restraint, not India’s strategic wisdom. This dangerous escalation is a stark reminder of how rapidly the Kashmir dispute can become a global crisis.
The GPI rightly points out that India’s Kashmir policy is driven less by security and more by domestic politics. The 2019 revocation of Article 370 was hailed by the ruling BJP as a nationalist triumph—a fulfilment of its ideological agenda. But this toxic blend of militarism and majoritarian politics has come at the cost of Kashmiri lives and regional stability. By portraying military dominance in Kashmir as national pride, the Indian government has normalized oppression and silenced dissent. Worse still, this militarization serves as fuel for growing anti-Muslim sentiment across India, threatening communal harmony and pushing the country further away from its secular ideals.
The GPI’s most sobering conclusion is that a major conflict in the region is highly likely within the next year. With both India and Pakistan nuclear-armed, the consequences of a misstep would not be confined to South Asia—they would ripple across the globe. A localized insurgency, a border clash, or another reckless missile strike could trigger events far beyond anyone’s control. The world has ignored Kashmir for too long, treating it as a bilateral issue or, worse, an internal Indian matter. The GPI makes clear that this is not just about territory—it’s about the global responsibility to prevent war and uphold human dignity.
The time for silence is over. The international community must demand demilitarization, accountability, and a return to meaningful dialogue. Human rights organizations, global powers, and international forums must hold India accountable for its actions in IIOJK, and must support the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination as recognized by multiple United Nations resolutions. If the Global Peace Index 2025 tells us anything, it is this: the Kashmir conflict is not frozen, it is boiling. And unless the world acts—urgently and decisively—Kashmir could very well be the spark that ignites the next great war.
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