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The people in this photo are
crowding around these trucks because they are excited. They are
witnessing a historic event: the opening of a trade route that
had been closed for 60 years. A trade route is a road used to
transport things like food, clothing, housewares, and other items
from one country to the next to be bought or sold. The route
connects two neighboring countries that aren't on completely
friendly terms, India and Pakistan. It runs through an area called
Kashmir that both of these countries claim as their own. On the
map, you can see that the two countries each control part of
Kashmir. The border between the two areas, shown on the map with
a dotted line, can be a very dangerous place and soldiers with
weapons patrol both sides of this border. The opening of the
trade route is part of long struggle to bring peace to this area
of the world. As you see on the map, India controls the southern
part of Kashmir, while Pakistan controls the northern and western
region. But many of the people in Kashmir are very unhappy with
this arrangement. Part of it stems from religion: Kashmir's population
is majority Muslim, while India's is Hindu. Are you familiar
with these two religions? Some Kashmir residents have formed
a separatist movement. A separatist is someone who supports the
separation of a particular group of people from a country. Kashmiri
separatists in the Indian-controlled part want to be free of
Indian rule. And some Kashmiris want their region to be its own
country. The battles between separatists and government soldiers
have led to a lot of violence. |
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