Refugee Crisis over Kashmir Could Dwarf All Others and ‘Trigger War Between Nuclear-armed States’ — Imran Khan

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that India’s tough new policies in Kashmir risk creating a severe refugee crisis that could then create a domino effect, even leading to a full-blown war with Islamabad.

Khan made his remarks while opening the UN-sponsored Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

He warned that if India tries to change the demography of its Muslim-majority Kashmir region, it will trigger “another refugee crisis that would dwarf other crises.” From there on, the ensuing chaos and tensions could spiral into an open conflict between India and Pakistan, he warned.

The Pakistani PM urged the world community to intervene in the Kashmir issue. In August, India revoked the region’s decades-old special autonomy and reorganized it, arguing that the move would help to combat terrorism and would also boost the region’s economy.

As the autonomy was revoked, a massive paramilitary force descended upon the troubled region and a curfew was imposed. India said it was necessary to maintain law and order and to prevent violence on the ground.

India does have reasons to worry about security in its regions with sizeable Muslim population, recent events have shown. After New Delhi adopted a law aimed at helping immigrants from religious minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to gain Indian citizenship, the nation witnessed mass protests over not including the Muslim migrants on the list. Critics called the law discriminatory and Muslims took to streets en masse to protest. Some regions, including Assam, have seen particularly violent clashes between the demonstrator and police, with several people killed in the unrest.