Tensions have resurfaced in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), an insurgency-hit region along India’s border with Pakistan, after the body of an Indian Army soldier was recovered by security forces on Wednesday morning.
The body of the 26-year-old soldier was found riddled with bullets in a forested area of the Anantnag district, according to the ANI news agency.
The deceased, identified as Hilal Ahmad Bhat, was among two soldiers abducted by suspected terrorists a day earlier, prompting the army to launch an extensive search mission. The other soldier managed to escape, according to Indian media reports. The soldiers were kidnapped during an overnight joint counterterrorism operation conducted by the Indian Army in collaboration with J&K Police on Tuesday.
This incident occurred despite tightened security in the region, where the first assembly elections were held in recent weeks. New Delhi deployed 3,000 additional troops for the elections, which took place in three phases in September and October, as reported by the Hindustan Times.
Notably, it was the first polling in the border region in over a decade, after years of unrest and militancy. However, the election was overshadowed by increased terrorist activity in the area.
As recently as last week, an encounter between army personnel and terrorists resulted in two casualties in the Kupwara district along the Line of Control – the border between India and Pakistan. The operation which culminated in the encounter was launched on October 3 following reports of terrorist infiltration into India. According to media reports, approximately 60 to 80 terrorists are believed to have infiltrated the Jammu region between March and April of this year.
Kashmir is at the center of a major border dispute between India and its nuclear-armed neighbor. Over the years, India has accused Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism in the Muslim-majority region, while Islamabad has accused India of violating the humanitarian rights of the region’s residents.
Ties between India and Pakistan have been frosty since 2019 following the deadly Pulwama attack in Kashmir that killed 42 Indian troops. In response, New Delhi conducted a “surgical strike” against a terrorist group in Pakistan’s Balakot. Additionally, in 2019, Islamabad downgraded its relations with New Delhi after the Narendra Modi-led federal government revoked special constitutional privileges for the region.
The latest developments near the border come just days ahead of Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s planned trip to Pakistan to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. Jaishankar has recently condemned Islamabad over its “cross-border terrorism policy,” asserting that it will “never succeed.”
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