The writer is a former Naval officer, philanthropist and a Research Fellow at Dalhousie University Halifax, Canada
The 1947 Indian Independence Act gave rulers of 562 Indian states the right to accede to India or Pakistan. Hari Singh, the then ruler of Kashmir, vacillated. Fearing that he may merge his state with India, against the wishes of his predominantly Muslim subjects, Kashmiris rose in rebellion. The Dogra army slaughtered the rebels. Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen rushed to help their Muslim brethren and entered Kashmir. A desperate Hari Singh signed his Instrument of Accession to India on October 25, 1947, which India accepted and sent troops in to save Srinagar. War broke out between India and Pakistan in 1948.
Not content with India’s astonishing success in Kashmir, Nehru declared Aksai Chin, a territory contiguous to Kashmir, a part of India. China, which also claimed ownership of Aksai Chin, rejected India’s claim and built a road from Xinkiang to Tibet through the Aksai Chin area. India began building military posts in the Chip Chin Valley of Aksai Chin. Chinese patience ran out. On October 20, 1962 its troops marched in, threw out the Indians from Chip Chin and established control over Aksai Chin, which India has refused to accept.
Pakistan had also laid claim to Aksai Chin (as a part of Kashmir) leading to some tension with China. Conditions improved after the India-China War of 1962. A Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement was signed on March 2, 1963 in which Pakistan surrendered its claim of territory in Aksai Chin, while China transferred Hunza to Pakistan. India rejected the agreement, claiming the entire territory belonged to India.
The situation today is that India occupies Jammu, Ladakh and the Kashmir Valley, which Pakistan refuses to accept; China occupies Aksai Chin in Ladakh, which India refuses to accept; while Pakistan occupies Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Nagar and Hunza, which India refuses to accept. Obviously, India, China and Pakistan are all parties to the Kashmir dispute and have an interest in resolving it. Why China has been excluded from talks on resolving the dispute is a phenomenal mystery.
Over the last 50 years, since the Sino-India War, China has demonstrated a remarkable ability to resolve border disputes peacefully. Their key is patience.
The United Nations sent out the hero of the Pacific War, Admiral Chester Nimitz, to oversee a plebiscite in Kashmir to decide whether it should accede to India or Pakistan. That option was abandoned when both countries failed to follow the UN Security Council Resolution, which called for troop withdrawals from Kashmir. So, a plebiscite is no longer an option. International efforts to foster peace between Pakistan and India, including the Tashkent Declaration of 1966, have failed. Scores of bilateral efforts up to the heads of state level have got nowhere. Pakistan thrice tried the military option, in 1948, 1965 and Kargil. All of them failed. Kashmiri insurgencies, in retaliation for Indian military high-handedness, have also failed, despite tens of thousands being killed. The unleashing of extremist groups in Kashmir has complicated the issue.
The dividends of Chinese participation, therefore, are huge. Pakistan’s position will be strengthened by the presence of a powerful friend at the table. Prospects of a peaceful solution will become brighter. Violence, born of the deep frustration of Kashmiris, will end. Indian military atrocities will reduce. Army units can withdraw, particularly from Siachen. With Kashmir becoming a trilateral issue, all bilateral issues can be delinked from Kashmir, without appearing to abandon the Kashmiris. Trade can blossom, bringing widespread prosperity to a poverty-stricken region. Issues like Sir Creek, maritime boundary, detained fishermen and easier border controls will also become simpler to resolve. The upside is phenomenal, the downside negligible.
So let us go talk to the Chinese.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 5th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (59)
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It is stubborn attitude of one party that keeps kashmiris suffering
..hahahaa...UN or US could make no difference ..and little china will...????
@Syed Jalal Kashmiri: dream brother. as ur wish is bubble which has already busted.
true as always that these kind of people day dream. i suppose pakistan should shift its focous on Saving Balochistan and FATA than saving kashmir..
@Hashim Abro: A cool head on a hot page .
"Kashmir problem" - OUTSOURCED!!!
@Hameed:
Majority of Indians are against Indian govt. The approval ratings of most govts in India is less than 50%.
But, that hasn't stopped us from being part of India.
Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you dont have any problems, you dont get any seeds. -Norman Vincent Peale................................................................... Kashmir is a dispute/ a festering problem, hence, it also calls for a permanent solution.
Kashmir is an integral part of Pakistan and the Islamic world. Kashmiris are a 95% Muslim majority people and devoutly religious. Hindu majority lands to India, and Muslim majority lands to Pakistan, as Partition should have been.
Stop trying to cheat history and justice, you can't withhold the wills and the aspirations of our Kashmiri Muslim people. We had enough living in this prison and want freedom, and the only way through is Pakistan. Pakistan and Kashmir have one destiny as the greatest Islamic nation in all of Asia.
Let us look back at history. The 1947 Indian Independence Act gave rulers of 562 Indian states the right to accede to India or Pakistan. Hari Singh, the then ruler of Kashmir, vacillated. Fearing that he may merge his state with India, against the wishes of his predominantly Muslim subjects, Kashmiris rose in rebellion. The Dogra army slaughtered the rebels. Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen rushed to help their Muslim brethren and entered Kashmir. History is about facts.. So lets see the faults in the above statements: 1. Kashmiris started quarreling after the Pakistan backed regulars (faking as tribals) came into Kashmir with their guns... 2. Not to help the Muslim brethren but to occupy Kashmir..
@Author Kashmir is an integral part of the Republic Of India. Full stop.
the solution to Kashmir lies with PM Modi. let him become the PM , and Pakistan and NS will shiver raising the K boggey in front of him or internationally.
@Hameed:
"The people of Indian Kashmir are overwhelmingly against Indian rule."
Does not matter, the kashmiris against India are not increasing by the day and violence is going down ever year.
The question is Can Pakistan win or "liberate" Kashmir. What is Pakistan actually doing to win? Apart from declaring holidays, taking and talking and talking ...
@Arijit Sharma:
"So let us go talk to chinese" means to speak the chinese language and the chinese culture. This is a non starter if Indians and Pakistanis have not solved the issue in their languages. The Kashmiris speak Kashmiri language and since it concerns them they should solve their own problem. The world Community will help them and assist them and organise sanctions against India if need be but it is the Kshmiris who must take the initiative for an independent country.
Rex Minor
"The defense of the East Pakistan lies in that of the west Pakistan"! - Old slogan
"The solution of Kashmir lies in Beijing"! - New slogan
Pakistan has been trying to win back Kashmir by all means (war, terror, sympathy, law) for the last 60+ years and it had the backing of US, Saudi Arabia and China - still it failed (understatement). So now what more can it do? Does Pakistan even have a Plan? There are some writings on the wall that Pakistan better learn to read.
@Ali Tanoli:
"Only one option left all three countries should leave the Kashmir and make independent state of Kashmir ."
Why?
What if India says no?
When Author says,"So let us go talk to the Chinese", and obviously he suggests that primarily to Pakistanis, may be the Chinese will pass on some practical wisdom since "their key is patience". Indo-Chinese détente is a good example of how neighbours that can't solve disputes learn to live with differences, peacefully. Credit goes to China mostly & to AB Vajpayee who was foreign minister in Morarji Desai's cabinet & to Rajiv Gandhi. If not Indians, Chinese will certainly impart to their Pak counterparts the art of living comfortably with discomforts in the neighbourhood, which requires more of "danishmandi" (sagacity) & less of "jazba" (passion).
Realistically there appears to be no solution to the Kashmir situation.........the status quo seems to be a de facto solution.
China's role is the heart of the matter. The entire region being contiguous, means, that China, India, and Pakistan are locked into each other's arms. Salams
If these are the kind of experts the country is saddled with, nothing more need be said about that country.
" ... So let us go talk to the Chinese. ... "
The Chinese know it all too well. Time and tide are in India's favour.
"Not content with India’s astonishing success in Kashmir" I don't think it can be described as an astounding success because Nehru was forced to take this matter to the security council which ordered a plebiscite in all of Kashmir and which the Indians accepted. This plebiscite is the only solution to this dispute. India, which claims to be the worlds largest democracy, should learn from other democracies like Canada that allowed a plebiscite for independence in Quebec or the UK which allowed one in Scotland.
I think after years of separation Kashmiris of two countries are not even the same people anymore they speak different languages and the culture has changed Pakistani Kashmiris speak Hindko while Kashmiris in India speak some other difficult to understand language and if reunited - I doubt if they will live happily together for long .
Who will bell the cat ? The author has tried his best to put forward a solution on an issue which is least important at present and almost impossible to achieve in the wake of our incompetent leaders who are busy trying to enhance trade with India due to hidden agenda. Besides, if they were competent they would have done so ages ago. Now there are many other issues in hand which are on top priority. Law and order, economy and good governance like issues are in hand and no one knows how to go about it or they don't want to know about it so how can an issue such as Kashmir can come in and who will ask for the support of China and how ?
The author has done a good work and has soft corner for Peace in the region, Pakistan in particular, but what he doesn't know is the incompetency and insensitivity of the leaders in Pakistan. I wish him good luck for his future such endeavours.
was Kalat State part of India and further more to ask is Balochistan is part of south Asia or central Asia?
Please do not involve China in this dispute. We will surrender IOK to Pakistan immediately. In fact, Dr. Singh will come to Pakistan before Indian election and handover IOK on a golden platter.
Too many cooks spoil the broth .
Haa..Haa.. Haa. Such a simple solution for a very complicated problem....
China has never expressed any desire to be included in this mess.
Sir, in your theory Pakistan stands nowhere except as unlawful aggressor in PHK and GB. Further, issues between China and India are British legacy of Jhonson's Line and MacMohan Line. If negotiations about these boundary disputes are to be settled in suggested ways, in that case Durand Line issue with Afghanistan should also be accepted by Pakistan?
Let Pak give up sending extremists into kashmir and India by words and deeds. Till then no talks with any one is possible. And after that no talks with any one else is necessary. India and Pak can resolve the issues but for nonstate actors.
By the same token lets bring Iran in Baluchistan and Afghanistan in KP.
I completely agree with this author, and am looking forward to his forthcoming article "The solution to Balochistan lies in New Delhi." The author will be discussing bilateral, not trilateral, issues in that article, because the future of Balochistan is a bilateral issue between India and the United States.
A most beautiful piece of fantasy I have read in a long time...
It is indeed funny how Pakistanis love lo live under delusions! Why would India agree to this? India is a status quo power. It will and should never cede even an inch of its territory!
How ignorant can one be?. China has stopped support of Kashmiri insurgency in return of seizing support of India for Tibet's cause. China is neutral here and will not risk and give India a reason to activly support in Japan, Vieteam etc by actively supporting you. Also, they have pledged to reach $100 B trade with us. They are not fools to risk all that. China have stopped support for all such struggles around the world in process of opening itself to world economy.
Lol .. This is called "Wishful Thinking". Sir with due respect , first pls put your house in Order, then try to talk about Kashmir. First you tried US, now china?. This is the reason why Pakistan will never succeed and always will be failed state !! Period
Only one option left all three countries should leave the Kashmir and make independent state of Kashmir .
'So let us go talk to the Chinese.' - so having failed to internationalize the issue, with no one else taking the bait, now you want to involvle the Chinese?
'The dividends of Chinese participation, therefore, are huge.' To whom? Why would the Chinese walk into a minefield willingly? They've got their bit of Kashmir - and they're happy with it. India may be unhappy with that, but knows it cannot get Aksai Chin back, so is pretty much resigned to that fact. India also knows that it is now not possible to recover the territory under Pakistani control - and is pretty much resigned to that. And India also knows very well - that NO MORE of the territory under its control will EVER be handed over to Pakistan or China.
It is only Pakistan which has to wake up and smell the coffee. Let us know when you do, and the Kashmir problem will be solved instantaneously when you accept the LoC as the IB.
Till then no permutations and combinations on interlocutors and / or mediators will make any difference. but your country's obsession with Kashmir will surely prove to be your undoing.
Mr. Naeem, India doesn't even allow USA to intervene on Kaskmir related issues. China?? No way ...