Kashmir: The Unfinished Business from 1947-2007

Abstract

This paper discusses the fifty years of dispute between India and Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir. It analyses how the unplanned withdrawal of the British from the subcontinent, the geostrategic shift in the international political and addition of nuclear weapons affected the bilateral relationship on the issue of Kashmir. The lingering dispute of Kashmir, which has always been at the top of hierarchy in the agenda of priorities of Pakistan, never let it to establish cordial relationship with India. The hasty British farewell and the premature partition of the United India in June 1947 unleashed a plethora of problems. The influx of crises became complex and intractable by the indecisive position of the Maharaja of Kashmir, who was a Sikh ruler of the overwhelming Muslim population of the state. The dispute between New-Delhi and Islamabad always took a new turned after the shifts of international politics in 1950s, 1980s and 2001. The addition of nuclear weapons has discouraged both countries from crossing international borders, but does not help in the stability of bilateral relationship. There were small autonomous units in the United India called Princely States whose relationships with the British government were governed by the treaty of paramountcy. At the time of the independence of India, these states were given the option of joining either India or Pakistan according to the India Independence act of 1947. Religious majority and geographical contiguity was the determining principles of accession of the princely states. All states accessed successfully either to India or Pakistan except Junagadh, Hyderabad and Kashmir. The states of Junagadh and Hyderabad were occupied by the Indian forces after the delay of their accessions later on legitimised their occupation by referendums, which has never been held in the Kashmir (Lamb, 1966). This paper consists of six sections. The second section of the paper is about the accession of Kashmir, the third one discusses how the shift in geo-strategic environment affected the Kashmir dispute. The fourth section is about the effect of nuclear weapons on the bilateral relationship. The fifth part discusses how the event of 9/11 changed Pakistan’s position on the issue of Kashmir and final one is conclusion of the paper