How Trump triggered the Kashmir turmoil

As Pakistan prepares to file a complaint about India to The Hague over Kashmir, analysts are debating the role that U.S. President Donald Trump played in stoking tensions between the two and the implications of his intervention on regional stability.

The Indian parliament enacted a bill that allowed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to strip the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir of autonomy on Aug. 6, a day after the law's proposal. Under India's new rules, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was divided into two and placed under direct control of the central government.

India and Pakistan have long been locked in a bitter territorial dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. This dispute is in part rooted in religion. Hindus account for 80% of the Indian population. In Jammu and Kashmir, Muslims make up 70% of the population.

Modi has claimed Islamist militants backed by Pakistan use Jammu and Kashmir as a base from which to launch terror attacks. Modi said his government will develop the local economy and alleviate poverty, so as to root out terrorism that originates from the state.

Read the full article in Nikkei Asian Review.