Kashmir Conflict Likely to Spur Pakistan to Grow Even Closer With China, India’s Rival

The recent military confrontation between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region is likely to bring Pakistan even closer to India’s regional rival China, experts say.

Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani (L) and General Hou Shusen (R), Deputy Chief of Staff of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), watch the Pakistan-China military drill in Jhelum, Pakistan, on November 24, 2011. Aamir QureshiAFP/Getty Images

DELHI, India—The recent military confrontation between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region is likely to bring Pakistan even closer to India’s regional rival China, experts say.

Jayadev Ranade, a former senior official in the Indian foreign intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing, who now runs a China-focused think-tank in New Delhi, said that China views Pakistan as its “vassal state,” using it to keep India in check.