The supporting structures for Pakistan's proxy war in Jammu & Kashmir

The Government of India (GOI) has declared a unilateral ceasefire with the Kashmiri militants in an effort to begin a negotiation process. Simultaneously, the GOI has also made it clear that it would be interested in a dialogue with Pakistan eventually, provided it curbs cross‐border terrorism. This paper seeks to understand whether the ruling establishment in Pakistan is in a position to control the militant groups operating from Pakistan. Officially, Pakistan has been able to take the stance that it is providing only moral, political and diplomatic support to the militant groups in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), because of the emergence of some autonomous structures within Pakistan, which it is using to support the proxy war in J&K. These structures have emerged due to geo‐political reasons and the political and socio‐economic transformations that are going on in Pakistan. While Pakistan is using these structures to support the proxy war in J&K, it does not really have control over these structures.