Foreign Affairs

This has gotten very little attention on major news outlets across the planet, probably because people are holding their breaths as they wait and see whether common sense prevails after a few nasty skirmishes and both countries negotiate.

I don't think that's going to happen for a while. Modi has displayed an almost pathological hatred for Muslims in India, something extended toward Pakistan. Once he cut off the headwaters of the Indus River, Pakistan's main fresh water supply, he made a much more serious conflict inevitable.

I think the only good news is that the forces being assembled and used at the border are all conventional, so I doubt either side wants to start tossing nukes. The bad news is that this will likely happen if one side or the other gets desperate. Past wars have been short and conventional. This one might be different because of Modi's overreaction, cutting off their wate.

Most of the world seems to be holding its collective breath, hoping this de-escalates.