WHILE the international media have focused on the Israeli killing of 17 Palestinians, the latest violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir has been little remarked. Twenty people have been killed and more than 200 injured, many of them seriously, in the latest confrontation between Indian security forces, militants and angry crowds.

Since 1947 when the subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan, the two powers have been at odds over Jammu and Kashmir. Its Hindu ruler, the Maharaja Hari Singh, seeing little chance of emerging as an independent state, favored Indian rule while Pakistan believed it should take over because of the territory’s Muslim majority population. When Islamabad sent in troops, Singh appealed to New Delhi for help, which the Indians were not slow in providing. The result was the first of three wars between Indian and Pakistan.

In one of its first mediation efforts since it was formation, the United Nations attempted to intervene. Both India and Pakistan were to withdraw their troops and a plebiscite held so that the people of Jammu and Kashmir could decide for their future for themselves. In the event the vote was never held. The Indians argued that the Pakistan military had not withdrawn as it had promised. But they themselves had not pulled out their soldiers either.

The result has been that for 61 years, the so-called “Line of Control” in Kashmir had become one of the most militarized regions in the world, with some 200,000 heavily-armed troops facing each other much of it along an extremely hostile Himalayan mountain region.

Regular clashes have occurred as militants crossed into Indian-controlled Kashmir with the cooperation of the Pakistan army. Despite dozens of major security operations, the Indian army has failed to break the back of the militants operating in their area. This has much to do with the support that ordinary Kashmiris are prepared to give to the fighters. Indian attempts to win the hearts and minds of the people have been few and far between. The poor behavior of some Indian troops has not made the occupation authorities endearing.

The latest deaths included four civilians came when crowds took to the streets south of Srinagar after the Indian army had been involved in fighting with militants. It is being reported that three soldiers and 13 militants died in the gun battles.

The UN has occasionally sought to revive its mediation but it is hard to see how it could oversee and a free and fair referendum while Jammu and Kashmir is divided up between three occupying armies. Yes three. Because China also has skin in the game. It occupies three pieces of mountainous Kashmir, the largest of which, the Aksai Chin, has brought it into direct confrontation with India.

China sees India its Asian rival, both politically and economically. It has therefore built strong links with Pakistan, while historically India has looked to Moscow. It probably suits Beijing to have India bogged down in a conflict which is likely to do nothing but sully its international reputation. However, by the same token, China could do its world standing a great deal of good if it seeks to find a solution to this seemingly endless confrontation. An independent Jammu and Kashmir whose sovereignty was guaranteed by Beijing, Islamabad and Delhi under UN auspices might just be a workable settlement.