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https://theconversation.com/india-and-pakistan-have-fought-many-wars-in-the-past-are-we-on-the-precipice-of-a-new-one-256080>
"India conducted military strikes against Pakistan overnight, hitting numerous
sites in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and deeper into Pakistan itself. Security
officials say precision strike weapon systems, including drones, were used to
carry out the strikes.
While there’s still much uncertainty around what’s happened, it is clear both
sides are closer to a major conflict than they have been in years – perhaps
decades.
We’ve seen these kinds of crises before. India and Pakistan have fought
full-scale wars many times over the years, in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999.
There were also cross-border strikes between the two sides in 2016 and 2019
that did not lead to a larger war.
These conflicts were limited because there was an understanding, given both
sides possess nuclear weapons, that escalating to a full-scale war would be
very dangerous. That imposed some control on both sides, or at least some
caution.
There was also external pressure from the United States and others on both
occasions not to allow those conflicts to spiral out of control.
While it’s possible both sides will exercise similar restraint now, there may
be less pressure from other countries to compel them to do so.
In this context, tensions can escalate quickly. And when they do, it’s
difficult to get both sides to back down and return to where they were before."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
