LONDON—Since India won its independence from Britain in August of 1947, the ramparts of the majestic Red Fort in Delhi have served as a backdrop to an annual address by the prime minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked India’s 70th Independence Day anniversary by announcing a major change in foreign policy. Well into an address lasting nearly 90 minutes, he slipped in a few innocuous words that made diplomats sit up. “The people of Balochistan, the people of Gilgit, the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have thanked me in such a manner, from places that I have never been and never had a chance to meet, they have sent wishes to the people of India and thanked us,” he said. “I am grateful to them.”
Modi did not elaborate that the reported thanks from Pakistan citizens followed his remarks three days earlier about Pakistani repression at a party meeting: “Pakistan shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against people in Balochistan and PoK [Pakistan-occupied Kashmir].”
With this, New Delhi underscored its willingness to crack down on unrest and protests erupting in Kashmir since the July 8 killing of Burhan Wani, commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, a rebel group that seeks to bind the state of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan.
The territorial dispute over Kashmir has raged since 1947 with no resolution in sight as Pakistan has used terrorism in Kashmir as a relatively cost-free strategy to keep India preoccupied on the western frontier.
