In a timeless Indian fable, two cats quarrel over a loaf of bread. A monkey intervenes, promising to divide the prize fairly. Instead, he nibbles away at each piece, always claiming to correct the imbalance, until nothing remains. The cats, too consumed by their feud, are left with nothing. The monkey walks away, full and smug. That story, though deceptively simple, offers a compelling parable for geopolitics: in a conflict between two bitter rivals, a third party often stands to gain.
Such has been the fate of Kashmir—one of the most militarised flashpoints on Earth—caught in a decades-long struggle between India and Pakistan. But in the latest ‘conflict,’ as the world watched with mounting alarm, it wasn’t just the South Asian rivals locked in combat. There are new players with new stakes. China and the United States emerged not merely as observers, but as consequential actors in what had long been regarded as a ‘bilateral’ matter.
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