The recent reiteration by the United States, especially in the declared readiness by President Donald Trump to offer his services as a mediator in the Kashmir dispute, has dealt a huge blow to the long-held narration by India that Kashmir is its internal or, at best, a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

This stand by the US state department, despite the intense diplomatic pressure by Indian politicians, led by Shashi Tharoor and the Indian delegation at large in Washington, highlights an obvious fact that Kashmir is an international dispute that has remained unresolved, and is begging the attention of the world.

The three-way dispute between India, Pakistan, and Kashmir is a case in point. When Trump offered to mediate in this controversial issue, it did not represent a diplomatic nicety or a casual rhetoric. Still, it exposes the reality that Kashmir has been an unresolved regional crisis with international ramifications. It is high time that it is taken out of the domestic legal domain of India. India has long attempted to present Kashmir as an issue of internal security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and its brutal occupation and militarization of the region as a counter-terrorist and counter-separatist step that it has to take.

Kashmir has been an unresolved regional crisis with international ramifications.

Once a sitting US President publicly offers to act as a mediator and officially declares Kashmir a conflict area requiring international intervention, this flimsy script falls apart under the burden of international acceptance and the facts of history. All the Indian and finesse of oratory whether in the hallowed chambers of the Lok Sabha or in the portals of international diplomacy cannot hide the fact that the status of Kashmir is enshrined in international law especially in the resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council which explicitly regard Kashmir as a disputed territory that was to undergo a plebiscite to decide on its final status.

The Kashmir problem has ceased to be the issue of territorial pretensions or the diplomatic status; it is the question of the rights and freedoms of a whole people. The fact that Trump offered his services as a mediator publicly, and then offered them again even after Indian objections, conveys a very clear message to the international community about the situation in Kashmir, that the status of the region is undetermined and its population is stuck in the loop of violence, disenfranchisement, and despair. This acknowledgment comes amid the calls by sections of the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and other human rights monitoring groups to intervene internationally and counter the excesses in the territory.

Stakes are quite high, as it can affect not only the regional actors but also the whole international community. The inability to settle Kashmir peacefully and fairly may spark a wider conflict with disastrous results and even nuclear confrontation. The long-held stance by Pakistan that Kashmir is an incomplete agenda of Partition and a self-determination issue has finally been proved correct with Trump expressing his readiness to take the international community on board in resolving the issue.

Once a sitting US President publicly offers to act as a mediator, this flimsy script falls apart.

India has tried to subjugate this fact by military means, demography (abrogation of article 370 and introduction of domicile laws to change the Muslim majority status of the valley), and by an iron-fisted security system over decades. However, all these actions have failed to muzzle the expression of the Kashmiri people and to make the world believe that everything is okay with the problem. Instead, every repression action has made the demand for justice, democracy, and freedom in the valley louder.

Therefore, the current events in Washington signify the new era of the Kashmir dispute. The international discourse is changing, and the Indian fabrication of its sovereignty over Kashmir is undergoing degeneration as the international law, the human rights doctrine, and geopolitical reality cast their stern light upon it. It is quite possible that Trump’s demanding mediation was diplomatically outrageous in New Delhi, but it has revitalized the discussion of the actual status of Kashmir and reminded the world that this is not a passed chapter but an open sore.

The Kashmir problem… is the question of the rights and freedoms of a whole people.

The US stance echoes the needs of the Kashmiri people, who have long been demanding international intervention to help them escape a loop of occupation and oppression experienced over the decades. It is now up to the world community to listen to this plea for justice and to make sure that Kashmir will not turn into another Palestine, the sign of international impotence and human suffering.

The moment of half measures and diplomatic niceties has passed; it is time that bold international intervention is carried out so that the issue of Kashmir is resolved as per the will of its people as well as per the provisions of international law. India could no longer use the cloak of “internal affairs” diplomacy as the day of occupation, resistance, and international interest grew more and more vivid. The cat is out of the bag, and the world has to act before it is too late.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.