The hostilities between India and Pakistan over the contested territory of Kashmir are igniting fears that a localized skirmish could boil over into a wider conflict and threaten the stability of the region.

Watching closely is China and President Xi Jinping, a party to the Kashmir dispute with a stake in the outcome.

“For China, the stakes are high. Pakistan is its closest ally, and Beijing would not like to see it humiliated,” Sadanand Dhume, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told Fox News Digital. “Seen through the prism of U.S.-China competition, each country has a ‘side’ in this conflict. China is joined at the hip with Pakistan, whereas the U.S. and India have grown increasingly close over the past two decades,” Dhume added.

The U.S. war in Afghanistan after 9/11 created a dependence on Pakistan’s military and intelligence that required close cooperation. Since the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, U.S. engagement with Pakistan has been limited and Islamabad has less relevance for Washington’s foreign policy aims.

Max Abrahms, an expert on terrorism at Northeastern University, told Fox News Digital that the fight over Kashmir could now become a venue for U.S.-China competition.

“The India-Pakistan conflict may emerge as a proxy war where India is backed by the U.S. and Pakistan is backed by China,” Abrahms said.