Kashmir and Geopolitics in Central Asia

Abstract

This article aims to explain the history of the conflict in Kashmir and how this has determined the role of India as a regional power during the second half of the twentieth century. The different factions and religious political parties that were established during the British mandate led to a discriminatory and segregationist culture that continued Indian state after achieving independence, something that in addition to the concentrated poverty among Muslims gave rise to the establishment and spread of groups Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists seeking to purge the region from baseless myths. While the presence of powers outside the region has been crucial to understanding the conflict, both China and India have managed to impose their solutions to the conflict dispelling any doubt about the role that these nations want to star in the XXI century. This unity among regional powers has allowed them to focus more on solving their "internal problems" not only to achieve political stability, but also get the necessary legitimacy in the region as role models.