NEW DELHI -- The number of foreign militants is rising in Indian administered Kashmir for the first time since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government scrapped the region's limited autonomy in 2019, forcing New Delhi to adjust to a shifting geopolitical environment following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August.
Many of the foreign fighters crossing into Kashmir are affiliated with Jash-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), groups based in Pakistan that have been fighting together with the Haqqani network, a Taliban faction, in Afghanistan. They are entering northern Kashmir from Pakistan, an Indian police official in Srinagar told Nikkei Asia.