The first election in a decade is planned in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Here's what to know

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Residents of Indian-controlled Kashmir are gearing up for their first regional election in a decade that will allow them to have their own truncated government, also known as a local assembly, instead of remaining under New Delhi's direct rule.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan and claimed in its entirety by both. The Indian-administered part has been on edge since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government ended its special status in 2019 and also scrapped its statehood.

The three-phased polls will take place amid a sharp rise in rebel attacks on government forces in parts of Hindu-dominated Jammu areas that have remained relatively peaceful in the three decades of armed rebellion against Indian rule.

With campaigning picking up in the runup to the election, India's main opposition Congress party has formed an alliance to jointly seek the vote with the National Conference, the region’s largest pro-India Kashmiri political party. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party has a weak political base in the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of decades of anti-India rebellion, while it's strong in Jammu.

Here is what you need to know about the coming election:

Kashmir's future was left unresolved at the end of British colonial rule in 1947 when the Indian subcontinent was divided into predominantly Hindu India and mainly Muslim Pakistan. Pakistan has long pushed for the right to self-determination under a U.N. resolution passed in 1948, which called for a referendum on whether Kashmiris wanted to merge with either country.

Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989, while India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a charge Islamabad denies. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict which most Kashmiri Muslims consider a legitimate struggle for freedom.

Indian-administered Kashmir has been without a local government since 2018 when India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ended its support to the local Kashmiri People’s Democratic Party, bringing down the coalition government and causing the assembly to dissolve. A year later, Modi’s government revoked the region’s semi-autonomy and downgraded it to a federally controlled territory.

As a result, Indian-held Kashmir lost its flag, criminal code, constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs. It was also divided into two federal territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi, allowing it to appoint an administrator to run it along unelected government officials.

Since then, a slew of legal and administrative changes have been installed without public input, much to the anger of the region’s people whose civil liberties have also been curbed and media intimidated.

Indian officials have repeatedly said that the move — to shape what it calls “Naya Kashmir,” or a “new Kashmir” — was necessary to tackle separatism, foster greater economic development and fully integrate the region into the country.

The election will take place between Sept. 18 and Oct. 1, and votes are set to be counted on Oct. 4.

In theory, the polls will see a transition of power from New Delhi to a newly elected local assembly with a chief minister serving as the region’s top elected official with a council of ministers, a similar setup to before 2018.

But the new polls will hardly give the new government any legislative powers as Indian-controlled Kashmir will continue to be a “Union Territory" — a region directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s parliament remaining as the region's legislator. The elected assembly will only have nominal control over education and culture.

Kashmir's statehood status has to be restored for the new government to have power. Even Kashmiri pro-India parties, like the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party, have vowed to politically and legally fight for the return of Kashmir’s semi-autonomy.

Many are indifferent, while some believe their vote could be a way to express deep resentment of Modi's party. Most Muslim residents of the region want independence from India or unification with Pakistan.

However, Kashmir’s pro-India political elite, many of whom have been jailed for allegedly disrupting peace and slapped with corruption cases in 2019, see an opportunity in these elections to politically oppose the changes by India’s ruling party.

Historically, elections in Indian-held Kashmir have remained a sensitive issue, with many believing that they have been rigged multiple times in favor of the region’s pro-India politicians.

Previous elections have seen Kashmiri Muslim separatist leaders who challenge India’s sovereignty over the region call for a boycott of the vote, calling it an illegitimate exercise under military occupation.

Indian paramilitary soldiers guard as a boy rides on his bicycle during the door-to-door election campaigning by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir,Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Ashok Bhat, right, a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shakes hand with a voter while campaigning door-to-door ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024.(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Ashok Bhat, right, a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) talks to an elderly Kashmiri woman, while campaigning door-to-door ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

An overview of Dal Lake in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Oct. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan,File)

National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah, center, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti, second right, and other leaders sit during an all parties meeting on restoration of the special status that was stripped last year from Indian-administered Kashmir, in Srinagar, India. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Kashmiris sit outside closed shops painted with graffiti during a curfew in central Srinagar, India, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

Kashmiri protesters throw bricks and rocks at an armored vehicle of Indian police during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard on a flyover during lockdown in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin, File)

Kashmiris run for cover as a tear gas shell explodes near them during a protest in Srinagar Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Aug. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin, File)

Women shout slogans as Indian policemen fire teargas and live ammunition in the air to stop a protest march in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Aug. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard on a road during a curfew in Srinagar, India, Friday, Jan. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/ Mukhtar Khan,File)

An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard as a Kashmiri shopkeeper waits for customers in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, July 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Indian troops are on the move in Kashmir against guerrilla forces during the second war over Kashmir on Sept. 6, 1965. (AP Photo/File)

Election officials hold an election awareness campaign for first time voters ahead of the upcoming state elections in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir,Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

A Kashmiri man fishes as the sun sets over the Dal Lake on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, July 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

An elderly Kashmiri woman looks on as a paramilitary soldier guard during the door-to -door election campaigning by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir,Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine made a new call Saturday on the West to allow it to strike deeper into Russia after a meeting between U.S. and British leaders a day earlier produced no visible shift in their policy on the use of long-range weapons.

“Russian terror begins at weapons depots, airfields, and military bases inside the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak said Saturday. “Permission to strike deep into Russia will speed up the solution.”

The renewed appeal came as Kyiv said Russia launched more drone and artillery attacks into Ukraine overnight.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called on allies to greenlight the use of Western-provided long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. So far, the U.S. has allowed Kyiv to use American-provided weapons only in a limited area inside Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Discussions on allowing long-range strikes were believed to be on the table when U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in Washington D.C. Friday but, no decision was announced immediately after the meeting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressing the U.S. and other allies to allow his forces to use Western weapons to target air bases and launch sites further afield as Russia has stepped up assaults on Ukraine’s electricity grid and utilities before winter.

He did not directly comment on the meeting Saturday morning, but said that more than 70 Russian drones had been launched into Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian airforce later said that 76 Russian drones had been sighted, of which 72 were shot down.

“We need to boost our air defense and long-range capabilities to protect our people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “We are working on this with all of Ukraine’s partners.”

Other overnight attacks saw one person killed by Russian artillery fire as energy infrastructure was targeted in Ukraine’s Sumy region. A 54-year-old driver was killed and seven more people were hospitalized, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said.

A KAB aerial bomb also fell on a garage complex in the eastern city of Kharkiv, said regional Gov. Ihor Terekhov. No injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, officials in Moscow have continued to make public statements warning that long-range strikes would provoke further escalation between Russia and the West. The remarks are in line with the narrative the Kremlin has promoted since early in the war, accusing NATO countries of de-facto participation in the conflict and threatening a response.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency TASS Saturday that the U.S. and British governments were pushing the conflict, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, toward “poorly controlled escalation”.

Similar comments of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, where he said that allowing long-range strikes “would mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are at war with Russia.” were brushed off by Biden Friday.

Asked what he thought about Putin’s threat, Biden answered, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”

Elsewhere, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 19 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the country’s Kursk and Belgorod regions. No casualties were reported.

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A Ukrainian reacts after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians react after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A Ukrainian serviceman, left, is greeted after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)