Kashmir continues to be an intractable geopolitical crisis, mired in a three way territorial disagreement between India, Pakistan, and China. The region’s strategic importance comes not only from its water resources, national identity symbolism, but its crucial lookout points for monitoring conditions on the ground. This protracted conflict lays bare profound grievances over identity, security, and control of land and resources.

India claims all of Kashmir in accordance with the 1947 Instrument of Accession. Pakistan is particularly opposed, with its region considered a key element of its Islamic identity. This perspective is informed by the Radcliffe Line, which served to divide India and Pakistan along religious lines in 1947. China occupies Aksai Chin, taken by China in the 1962 Sino-Indian War, and Shaksgam, ceded by Pakistan to China in a 1963 boundary agreement.

The Kashmir region is often called the “water tower” of the Indian subcontinent. It fuels the Indus River and its eastern tributaries, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers. All of these rivers begin in Tibet, now under Chinese occupation. India and Pakistan both depend on these rivers for drinking water, irrigation, and hydropower.

>The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty was an important diplomatic achievement. Active mediation by the World Bank played an important role in keeping the India–Pakistan water conflicts at bay. Islamabad considers any move to dam the Indus, Jhelum, or Chenab rivers a declaration of war. These rivers are assigned to Pakistan under the treaty’s provisions.

Kashmir’s inhospitable landscape makes it an indispensable base for monitoring and striking through the Line of Control. This further complicates the importance of the territory for all three countries’ national security interests. This has allowed the region to evolve into a territorial and symbolic center of national identity for India, Pakistan, and China.

India is apprehensive that strategic infrastructure projects, like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), would dilute India’s claims over the territory. Through these projects, they aim to make its opponents’ administration of the disputed territories in Kashmir appear routine. For India, Kashmir has become an inseparable part of its own secular, federal identity and sovereignty.

Beyond all of its strategic importance, Kashmir is natural resource rich. These are often specialty, high-value crops such as apples, walnuts, and saffron. Its pristine landscapes offer significant potential for tourism.

Pakistan’s claim is based on the 1947 Radcliffe Line, which divided British India along religious lines. Islamabad maintains that Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region, ought to belong to Pakistan.