The sudden violent clashes between India and Pakistan in Kashmir have aroused great concern of international public opinion. Why are the two countries fighting at this time? The simple answer to

is that this fight has not only caused decades of historical resentment, but also triggered conflicts, which of course reflects the political and strategic considerations of both sides.

First of all, historical complaints. In 1947, South Asia, originally a British colony, was divided into India and Pakistan, which became independent. Both sides claim sovereignty over Jammu-Kashmir, but the upper classes of Kashmir are mostly Hindus who want to join India, and the lower classes are mostly Islamic and willing to join Pakistan.

Indian soldiers in the Indian-Pakistani border area (figure/aljazeera.com)

India-Pakistani war took place independently, resulting in heavy casualties and heavy casualties on both sides. Kashmir area was divided into Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, and divided by a "actual control line". The region has also been the source of 70 years of conflict between India and Pakistan, and the "Line of Actual Control" is also the most dangerous line in the world (with a large number of mines buried). After that, the second and third conflicts between India and Pakistan occurred in 1965 and 1971 respectively. The third conflict also resulted in the independence of East Pakistan into Bangladesh. It is no exaggeration to say that India and Pakistan are enemies of their neighbours from the day they were born.

In India's national defense, "the Northwest Frontier Issue" (Pakistan) has always been the first priority. India is also Pakistan's number one enemy. In spite of this, both sides have tried to improve bilateral relations in the past two decades. Since Modi took office as Prime Minister of India in 2014, he has met with the Prime Minister of Pakistan twice. The two countries reached a ceasefire agreement in 2003 and the situation on the ground eased. At the end of last year, the two sides also started to establish a "corridor of peace" in the region. < p > < p > but there are still some conflicts in this area from time to time. The main content is that India accuses Pakistan of covertly supporting terrorist organizations in Kashmir to attack and harass India, but Pakistan denies this, and believes that the root of the problem lies in India's excessive use of force against the people of Kashmir, resulting in resistance of the local people.

There are also some organizations in Kashmir, which require that they neither join India nor Pakistan, but strive to become an independent country (the area of India-controlled and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir is about 200,000 square kilometers, with a population of nearly 20 million). Under the background of

, it is not uncommon for Indians, especially Indian army and police, to be attacked in Kashmir. The spark of the Indian-Pakistani war was also an attack in the region. On February 14, a unit of India's Central Reserve Police Force was hit by a car bomb in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing 46 people. India then accused Pakistan of the attack, while Pakistan firmly denied it and expressed its willingness to conduct a joint investigation.

But less than two weeks later, India launched an air strike on Pakistan-controlled Kashmir in the early morning of February 26. Public opinion analysis of

mostly thinks that India is eager to revenge at this time, but Moody's action is based on domestic political considerations. After the terrorist attack on February 14, India can be said to be outraged. According to the local media, the mood of "giving terrorists a little color to Pakistan" is very strong. When India holds general elections in May this year, Modi, who is supposed to be "tough", can use this to appease public opinion and strive to take the initiative in the general election.

and Indian public opinion also believes that India's anti-terrorism position will win the support of the international community. From Pakistan's point of view, India's economic development has been rapid in recent years, and it has made great progress in diplomacy, especially the implementation of "Modism" after Modi came to power, which has caused great pressure on Pakistan, and Pakistan is quite wary of it. Imran Khan, who was elected Prime Minister in 2018, is also a tough man. Therefore, in the face of India's terrorist attacks, Pakistan can not show weakness.

But overall, despite the big fight between the two sides, the possibility of the situation out of control is relatively small. On the one hand, after all, economic development is the focus of the two countries; on the other hand, India and Pakistan are all nuclear countries. If we do not control the situation as soon as possible, the consequences will be much more serious than the previous three Indo-Pakistani wars.

So we can see that both sides, despite boasting about their achievements, have expressed their desire not to escalate the conflict. This attitude also reflects the nature of the conflict.