Why do India and Pakistan keep fighting over Kashmir?

from the NewYork Times

Questions:

1. “小规模战斗”如何用英文表达？
2. What's the immediate cause of this conflict beween Pakistan and India?
3. What's the meaning of "at work" in this article?

On Wednesday, Pakistani and Indian fighter jets engaged in a skirmish over Indian-controlled territory in the disputed border state of Jammu and Kashmir. The incursion came just one day after Indian aircraft flew into Pakistan and attacked near the town of Balakot.

fighter jet: 喷气式战斗机

engage: 卷入某事

disputed border state of Jammu and Kashmir: 争议边境茶膜克什米尔邦

skirmish: 小冲突，小规模战斗
a short fight between small groups of soliders

incursion: 突袭，袭击
a sudden attack

Now there are fears that hostilities could escalate between the two countries, which were created by the bloody partition of British India more than 70 years ago and have coexisted uneasily ever since.

fear: 这里是担忧

hostilities: 复数表示战争行为
hostility

escalate: 逐步增强

partition: （国家的）分裂，分治

The immediate cause was the Feb. 14 suicide bombing by a young Islamic militant, who blew up a convoy of trucks carrying paramilitary forces in Pulwama in southern Kashmir. It was the deadliest attack in the region in 30 years.

immediate: 立即的，直接的
have a direct effect
immediate cause 直接原因

militant: 好斗的人；激进的人
好斗的；激进的
She is a militant reformer 激进的改革者

convoy: （尤指护卫）舰队，车队

paramilitary force: 非官方部队，准军事部队
（可以指国家正规执法组织，也可以指叛军和私人军队）
paramilitary 准军事的，辅助军事的
force 武装军队

But there are also broader political forces at work. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, is up for re-election in May, and he is eager to avenge a bombing that has stirred outrage.

broader political forces: 更广泛的政治势力

at work: （某股势力或某些东西）正在影响、起作用
The report suggested that secret influences were at work

be up for: 准备好
Qatar is up for 2022 World Cup.

avenge: 报复，复仇
avenge sth./sb 为……报仇 I will avenge my friend.
avenge A on B 为了A向B复仇
I will avenge my friend on the enemy.

stir: 激起（尤其指激发强烈的感情）
If something stirs you, it makes you react with a strong emotion.
Excitement stirred inside her.

outrage: 愤慨
to provoke public outrage 激起公愤
to stir public outrage

Pakistan, for its part, has a new prime minister, Imran Khan, who was elected last year with the backing of his country’s powerful military. Khan wants to show that he can stand up to India, even as the country’s economy is so weak that he is seeking bailouts from Saudi Arabia and China.

for one's part: 就某物/某人来说

backing: 支持；赞助

stand up to: 抵抗，反抗

bailouts: （从经济上）帮助（某人或机构）脱离困境
seek bailout 寻求援助
bail 保释金
Three years of huge losses forced the bank to seek a government bailout.

Khan urged India to settle matters through talks. “All big wars have been due to miscalculation, ” he said in a televised address. “My question to India is that given the weapons we have, can we afford miscalculation?”

miscalculation: 误判，错误，误算

Questions:

1. “小规模战斗”如何用英文表达？
2. What's the immediate cause of this conflict beween Pakistan and India?
3. What's the meaning of "at work" in this article?

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