Following a terrorist attack on Indian citizens, tensions between Pakistan and India have escalated militarily. On 7 May, 2025 India launched missiles and air strikes on nine sites across Pakistan, with firing between both countries ensuing along the border region of Kashmir. Pakistan in turn has allegedly attacked Indian military targets and shot down Indian fighter jets. Many claims remain unverified, and the situation is still unfolding at the time of writing.
India justified its initial attack by claiming that it was targeting terrorist camps inside of Pakistan. Pakistan, which denies housing any terrorists on its territory, instead claims 26 civilian victims following India’s first blow.
Tension’s between the two countries have been rising rapidly following deadly terrorist attacks in Indian-occupied Kashmir on 22 April of this year, in which at least 26 people have been killed, and for which India accuses Pakistan. Pakistan has denied any involvement.
Many theories have emerged around the recent developments. While some claim India had outright staged the initial terrorist attack, others claim that India’s military response was just a way of distracting the public from its incompetence in preventing it. Of course it is entirely possible that the attack was a genuine reaction to India’s neocolonial occupation of Kashmir, and that India has or has not let it happen on purpose. It is also a fact, though, that Pakistan has a long-standing history in supporting terrorist activity, even in service of the US and other Western countries, as recently admitted by Pakistan’s Defense Minister.
Tensions have always been high between the Muslim-majority Pakistan and the Hindu-majority India since both countries came into existence after gaining independence from the British Empire in 1947. At this time, the region of Kashmir was denied the option of becoming its own state and the region was eventually divided up between India and Pakistan, with both countries claiming full authority over it. If the current situation escalates into a full-blown war, it would already be the fourth one between these two countries.
Religious extremism has long been used by the imperialists to destabilize Third World countries and cause internal conflict. But also the current Hindu-nationalist government of India under prime minister Modi heavily weaponizes Islamophobia to scare people into supporting their reactionary policies, while eroding Indian democracy faster than ever before in the history of the republic. Modi also does not shy away from presenting himself as an obedient lapdog to the West so that India can continue pursuing its clearly imperialist foreign policies towards not only Kashmir, but also towards other neighboring countries such as Nepal.
The same goes for Pakistan, an ally of the United States, which has a brutal history of oppressing its former territory, Bangladesh, and still meddles in its political affairs to this day.
The list of possible conclusions we can draw from these current events are endless. We see how India, a former colony itself, tries to rise up to the position of imperialist hegemon, eyeing for a seat at the table with its former master. This conflict, and especially the respective media coverage on it, showcase how religious and national chauvinism are used to prevent Third World countries from uniting against imperialism. What supporters of either side completely ignore is the human toll their actions have. While these traitors to the interests of their people are sealing the fate of soldiers and civilians with their irresponsible actions, they manage to make the public forget about the fact that they are fighting over what is essentially the occupied territory of Kashmir, whose independence movement has been criminalized for decades.
What we need is strong solidarity among the countries of the Third World. We need to emphasize that religious and nationalistic chauvinism are tools of our imperialist overlords to keep us divided. We need to expel the imperialist bootlickers from our governments. The masters will not give us a seat at their table – our infighting ensures their dominance. The LLCO stands on the side of all oppressed people. We want to extend our solidarity to the people of Kashmir and everyone suffering from religious fanaticism, sexism, or any other kind of oppression. The future of the Third World is communist!
We will be watching the further developments carefully. Until then, you may be interested in these articles on related issues:
On Pakistan’s meddling in the internal affairs of Bangladesh
- On the electoral crisis in Bangladesh
- Remember the life of Manik Shaha, martyred for speaking the truth
On Religion
- On Leading Light Communism and Religion
- Smashing Idols
- Extremists pervert religion, burn Muslims alive
On the Communist Party of India (Maoist)’s 10th Anniversary Report
Gandhi, Non-Violence and the Liberation of the Proletariat from Imperialism
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