[silk road] china, kashmir and jihad

Only today some of us were discussing the Silk Road and now Kashmir is once again in the limelight:

Confirming that Pakistan was prepared to relinquish formal claims to Kashmir, a long-festering sore between New Delhi and Islamabad, General Musharraf said: "Yes, we are against independence. One is giving (that) up clearly and I say, yes, (I) am giving up." General Musharraf's statement represents a significant olive branch and the first sign of movement in some time on the thorny issue of Kashmir, which provides the raison d'etre for Islamic militancy in the Subcontinent and has caused three major wars since independence.

Indeed significant, yes? While they’re all concentrating on the reduction in ‘jihadism’, what it also does is smooth the way for China, which already has redoubled its efforts to get its western Karakoram Highway and economic centres along the route set up. If you glance at a map of the old Silk Road above, it’s hard to see but this highway heads inexorably for Kashmir and beyond.

Of special significance is the town at the western end of the road pictured above – Babylon. And Babylon is south of Baghdad. Another interesting thing is that a functioning superhighway with logistic support along the route and peaceful passage through Kashmir and the rest of the sub-continent would also be highly desirable from a military point of view.