Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 08:04, 19 March 2016

Kashmir Conflict
India claims the entire erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir based on an instrument of accession signed in 1947. Pakistan claims Jammu and Kashmir based on its majority Muslim population, whereas China claims the Shaksam Valley and Aksai Chin.
Date 22 October 1947 – ongoing (77 years, 2 months and 1 day) Location Kashmir Status Ongoing Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Kargil War 1999 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
Belligerents
Pakistan File:PakistanRangers.jpg Pakistan Rangers Pakistan Army Inter-Services Intelligence	India Indian Army File:BSF Emblem.svg Border Security Force File:CRPF Insignia.jpg Central Reserve Police Force Research and Analysis Wing	All Parties Hurriyat Conference Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Lashkar-e-Taiba Jaish-e-Mohammed Hizbul Mujahideen Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-Badr Supported by:  Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
General Raheel Sharif	Pranab Mukherjee General Dalbir Singh Suhag General Pranav Movva Lt. Gen. P C Bhardwaj Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha Pranay Sahay	Amanullah Khan Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Maulana Masood Azhar Sayeed Salahudeen Fazlur Rehman Khalil Farooq Kashmiri Arfeen Bhai (until 1998) Bakht Zameen

The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict between India, Pakistan, and to a limited degree, China. It started just after the partition of India. India and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir, including the Indo-Pakistani Wars of 1947 and 1965, as well as the Kargil War. Furthermore, the two countries have been involved in several skirmishes over control of the Siachen Glacier. India claims the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, and, as of 2010, administers approximately 43% of the region. They control Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, and the Siachen Glacier. India's claims are contested by Pakistan, which administers approximately 37% of Kashmir, namely Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas, or Gilgit-Baltistan. China currently occupies Demchok district, the Shaksgam Valley, and the Aksai Chin region. China's claim over these territories has been disputed by India since China took Aksai Chin during the Sino-Indian War of 1962.

The root of conflict between the Kashmiri insurgents and the Indian Government is tied to a dispute over local autonomy. Democratic development was limited in Kashmir until the late 1970s and by 1988 many of the democratic reforms provided by the Indian Government had been reversed. Non-violent channels for expressing discontent were thereafter limited and caused a dramatic increase in support for insurgents advocating violent secession from India. In 1987, a disputed state election created a catalyst for the insurgency when it resulted in some of the state's legislative assembly members forming armed insurgent groups. In July 1988 a series of demonstrations, strikes and attacks on the Indian Government began the Kashmir Insurgency.

Although thousands of people have died as a result of the turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, the conflict has become less deadly in recent years. Protest movements created to voice Kashmir's disputes and grievances with the Indian government, specifically the Indian Military, have been active in Jammu & Kashmir since 1989. Elections held in 2008 were generally regarded as fair by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and had a high voter turnout in spite of calls by separatist militants for a boycott. The election resulted in the creation of the pro-India Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, which then formed a government in the state. According to Voice of America, many analysts have interpreted the high voter turnout in this election as a sign that the people of Kashmir endorsed Indian rule in the state. But in 2010 unrest erupted after alleged fake encounter of local youth by security force. Thousands of youths pelted security forces with rocks, burned government offices and attacked railway stations and official vehicles in steadily intensifying violence. The Indian government blamed separatists and Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group for stoking the 2010 protests.

However, elections held in 2014 saw highest voters turnout in 26 years of history in Jammu and Kashmir. However analysts explain that the high voter turnout in Kashmir is not an endorsement of Indian rule by the Kashmiri population, rather most people vote for daily issues such as food and electricity. An opinion poll conducted by Chatham House found that in the Kashmir valley - the mainly Muslim area In Indian Kashmir at the centre of the insurgency - support for independence varies between 74% to 95% in its various districts. Support for remaining with India was however extremely high in predominantly Hindu Jammu and Buddhist Ladakh.

According to Amnesty International, as of June 2015 no member of the security forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir has been tried for human rights violations in a civilian court.

In October 2015 Jammu and Kashmir High Court said that article 370 is "permanent" and Jammu & Kashmir did not merge with India the way other princely states merged but retained special status and limited sovereignty under Indian constitution.

Timeline

Early history

According to the mid-12th century text Rajatarangini the Kashmir Valley was formerly a lake. Hindu mythology relates that the lake was drained by the sage Kashyapa, by cutting a gap in the hills at Baramulla (Varaha-mula), and invited Brahmans to settle there. This remains the local tradition and Kashyapa is connected with the draining of the lake in traditional histories. The chief town or collection of dwellings in the valley is called Kashyapa-pura, which has been identified as Kaspapyros in Hecataeus (Apud Stephanus of Byzantium) and the Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44). Kashmir is also believed to be the country indicated by Ptolemy's Kaspeiria.

The Pashtun Durrani Empire ruled Kashmir in the 18th century until its 1819 conquest by the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh. The Raja of Jammu Gulab Singh, who was a vassal of the Sikh Empire and an influential noble in the Sikh court, sent expeditions to various border kingdoms and ended up encircling Kashmir by 1840. Following the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846), Kashmir was ceded under the Treaty of Lahore to the East India Company, which transferred it to Gulab Singh through the Treaty of Amritsar, in return for the payment of indemnity owed by the Sikh empire. Gulab Singh took the title of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. From then until the 1947 Partition of India, Kashmir was ruled by the Maharajas of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. According to the 1941 census, the state's population was 77 percent Muslim, 20 percent Hindu and 3 percent others (Sikhs and Buddhists). Despite its Muslim majority, the princely rule was an overwhelmingly Hindu state.

Partition and invasion

British rule in India ended in 1947 with the creation of new states: the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India, as the successor states to British India. The British Paramountcy over the 562 Indian princely states ended. According to the Indian Independence Act 1947, "the suzerainty of His Majesty over the Indian States lapses, and with it, all treaties and agreements in force at the date of the passing of this Act between His Majesty and the rulers of Indian States". States were thereafter left to choose whether to join India or Pakistan or to remain independent. Jammu and Kashmir, the largest of the princely states, had a predominantly Muslim population ruled by the Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh.

Pakistan made various efforts to persuade the Maharaja of Kashmir to join Pakistan. In July 1947, Mohammad Ali Jinnah is believed to have written to the Maharaja promising "every sort of favourable treatment," followed by Muslim League leaders lobbying with the Prime Minister of the State. Faced with the Maharaja's indecision, the Muslim League agents clandestinely worked in Poonch to encourage the local Muslims to revolt. The authorities in Pakistani Punjab waged a `private war' by obstructing supplies of fuel and essential commodities to the State. Later in September Muslim League officials in the Northwest Frontier Province, including the Chief Minister Abdul Qayyum Khan, assisted and possibly organized a large-scale invasion of Kashmir by Pathan tribesmen.

The Jammu division of the state got caught up in the Partition violence. Large flocks of Hindus and Sikhs from Rawalpindi and Sialkot started arriving in March 1947 bringing "harrowing stories of Muslim atrocities." This provoked counter-violence on Jammu Muslims which had "many parallels with that in Sialkot." According to scholar Ilyas Chattha, the "Kashmiri Muslims were to pay a heavy price in September–October 1947 for the earlier violence of West Punjab." However, Chattha also states that the "Hindu Dogra state of Jammu and Kashmir"ordered the massacre of Muslims in the Jammu division with political motivations to ethnically cleanse the Muslim population and to ensure a non-Muslim majority in the Jammu region of the state.

The violence in the eastern districts of Jammu in September–October is characterized as a `massacre' of Muslims by Christopher Snedden. It was perpetrated by the Hindu Dogra troops of Maharaja Hari Singh, local Hindus, including members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the Hindus and Sikhs displaced from the neighbouring areas of West Pakistan. The Maharaja himself was implicated in some instances. A team of British observers commissioned by India and Pakistan identified 70,000 Muslims killed whereas the Azad Kashmir Government claimed that 200,000 Muslims were killed. Another 200,000 Muslims are said to have fled to Pakistani territory. There was a widespread perception among these Muslims that the Maharaja ordered the killings. These Jammu Muslims joined the uprising in Poonch and the western districts and instigated the formation of the Azad Kashmir government.

The rebel forces in the western districts of Jammu organized themselves under the leadership of Sardar Ibrahim, a Muslim Conference leader, and took control of most of the western parts of the State by 22 October. On 24 October, they formed a provisional Azad Kashmir (free Kashmir) government based in Palandri.

Hari Singh, the Maharaja of Kashmir, initially believed that by delaying his decision he could maintain the independence of Kashmir, but, caught up in a train of events that included a revolution among his Muslim subjects along the western borders of the state and the invasion by Pashtun tribesmen, he signed an instrument of accession on 25 October 1947 to the Indian union in return for military aid. The National Conference, the largest political party in the State, endorsed the accession. In the words of the National Conference leader Syed Mir Qasim, India had the "legal" as well as "moral" justification to send in the army through the Maharaja's accession and the people's support to it.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1947

Rebel forces from the western districts of the State and the Pakistani Pakhtoon tribesmen made rapid advances into the Baramulla sector. In the Kashmir valley, National Conference volunteers worked with the Indian Army to drive out the `raiders'. The resulting First Kashmir War lasted until the end of 1948.

The Pakistan army made available arms, ammuniton and supplies to the rebel forces who were dubbed the `Azad Army'. Pakistani army officers `conveniently' on leave and the former officers of the Indian National Army were recruited to command the forces. In May 1948, the Pakistani army officially entered the conflict, in theory to defend the Pakistan borders, but it made plans to push towards Jammu and cut the lines of communications of the Indian forces in the Mehndar Valley. C. Christine Fair notes that this was the beginning of Pakistan using irregular forces and `asymmetric warfare' to ensure plausible deniability, which has continued ever since.

On 1 November 1947, Mountbatten flew to Lahore for a conference with Jinnah, proposing that, in all the princely States where the ruler did not accede to a Dominion corresponding to the majority population (which would have included Junagadh, Hyderabad as well Kashmir), the accession should be decided by an `impartial reference to the will of the people'. Jinnah rejected the ofer, thereby "squandering his leverage" according to the scholar A. G. Noorani. Prime Ministers Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan met again in December, when Nehru informed Khan of India's intention to refer the dispute to the United Nations under article 35 of the UN Charter, which allows the member states to bring to the Security Council attention situations `likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace'.

India sought resolution of the issue at the UN Security Council, despite Sheikh Abdullah's opposition to it. Following the set-up of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), the UN Security Council passed Resolution 47 on 21 April 1948. The measure called for an immediate cease-fire and called on the Government of Pakistan 'to secure the withdrawal from the state of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the state for the purpose of fighting.' It also asked Government of India to reduce its forces to minimum strength, after which the circumstances for holding a plebiscite should be put into effect 'on the question of Accession of the state to India or Pakistan.' However, it was not until 1 January 1949 that the ceasefire could be put into effect, signed by General Gracey on behalf of Pakistan and General Roy Bucher on behalf of India. However, both India and Pakistan failed to arrive at a truce agreement due to differences over interpretation of the procedure for and the extent of demilitarisation. One sticking point was whether the Azad Kashmiri army was to be disbanded during the truce stage or at the plebiscite stage.

UN mediation

The UNCIP made three visits to the subcontinent between 1948 and 1949, trying to find a solution agreeable to both India and Pakistan. It reported to the Security Council in August 1948 that "the presence of troops of Pakistan" inside Kashmir represented a "material change" in the situation. A two-part process was proposed for the withdrawal of forces. In the first part, Pakistan was to withdraw its forces as well as other Pakistani nationals from the state. In the second part, "when the Commission shall have notified the Government of India" that Pakistani withdrawal has been completed, India was to withdraw the bulk of its forces. After both the withdrawals were completed, a plebiscite would be held. The resolution was accepted by India but effectively rejected by Pakistan.

The Indian government considered itself to be under legal possession of Jammu and Kashmir by virtue of the accession of the state. The assistance given by Pakistan to the rebel forces and the Pakhtoon tribes was held to be a hostile act and the further involvement of the Pakistan army was taken to be an invasion of Indian territory. From the Indian perspective, the plebiscite was meant to confirm the accession, which was in all respects already complete, and Pakistan could not aspire to an equal footing with India in the contest.

The Pakistan government held that the state of Jammu and Kashmir had executed a Standstill Agreement with Pakistan which precluded it from entering into agreements with other countries. It also held that the Maharaja had no authority left to execute accession because his people had revolted and he had to flee the capital. It believed that the Azad Kashmir movement as well as the tribal incursions were indigenous and spontaneous, and Pakistan's assistance to them was not open to criticism.

In short, India required an asymmetric treatment of the two countries in the withdrawal arrangements, regarding Pakistan as an `aggressor', whereas Pakistan insisted on parity. The UN mediators tended towards parity, which was not to India's satisfaction. In the end, no withdrawal was ever carried out, India insisting that Pakistan had to withdraw first, and Pakistan contending that there was no guarantee that India would withdraw afterwards. No agreement could be reached between the two countries on the process of demilitarisation.

Scholars have commented that the failure of the Security Council efforts of mediation owed to the fact that the Council regarded the issue as a purely political dispute without investigating its legal underpinnings. Declassified British papers indicate that Britain and US had let their Cold War calculations inlfuence their policy in the UN, disregarding the merits of the case.

Sino-Indian War

In 1962, troops from the People's Republic of China and India clashed in territory claimed by both. China won a swift victory in the war, resulting in Chinese annexation of the region they call Aksai Chin and which has continued since then. Another smaller area, the Trans-Karakoram, was demarcated as the Line of Control (LOC) between China and Pakistan, although some of the territory on the Chinese side is claimed by India to be part of Kashmir. The line that separates India from China in this region is known as the "Line of Actual Control".

Operation Gibraltar and 1965 Indo-Pakistani war

Following its failure to seize Kashmir in 1947, Pakistan supported numerous `covert cells' in Kashmir using operatives based in its New Delhi embassy. After its military pact with the United States in 1950s, it intensively studied gurerilla warfare through engagement with the US military. In 1965, it decided that the conditions were ripe for a successful guerilla war in Kashmir. Code named `Operation Gibraltar', companies were dispatched into Indian-administered Kashmir, the majority of whose members were razakars (volunteers) and mujahideen recruited from Pakitan-administered Kashmir and trained by the Army. These irregular forces were supported by officers and men from the paramilitary Northern Light Infantry and Azad Kashmir Rifles as well as commandos from the Special Services Group. About 30,000 infiltrators are estimated to have been dispatched in August 1965 as part of the `Operation Gibraltar'.

The plan was for the infiltrators to mingle with the local populace and incite them to rebellion. Meanwhile, guerilla warfare would commence, destroying bridges, tunnels and highways, as well as Indian Army installations and airfields, creating conditions for an `armed insurrection' in Kashmir. If the attempt failed, Pakistan hoped to have raised international attention to the Kashmir issue. Using the newly acquired sophisticated weapons through the American arms aid, Pakistan believed that it could achieve tactical victories in a quick limited war.

However, the `Operation Gibraltar' ended in failure as the Kashmiris did not revolt. Instead, they turned in infiltrators to the Indian authorities in substantial numbersa, and the Indian Army ended up fighting the Pakistani Army regulars. Pakistan claimed that the captured men were Kashmiri `freedom fighters', a claim contradicted by the international media. On 1 September, Pakistan launched an attack across the Cease Fire Line, targeting Akhnoor in an effort to cut Indian communications into Kashmir. In response, India broadened the war by launching an attack on Pakistani Punjab across the international border. The war lasted till 23 September, ending in a stalemate. Following the Tashkent Agreement, both the sides withdrew to their pre-conflict positions, and agreed not to interfere in each other's internal affairs.

1971 Indo-Pakistani war and Simla Agreement

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to itadding to it or making an edit request. (March 2016)

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 resulted in the defeat of Pakistan and the Pakistani military's surrender in East Pakistan, leading to the creation of Bangladesh. The Simla Agreement, signed in 1972 between India and Pakistan, allowed both countries to settle all issues by peaceful means through mutual discussion within the framework of the UN Charter.

1987 state elections

In the run-up to the 1987 Legislative Assembly elections, several religious Muslim political organisations in favour of a plebiscite such as the Jamaat-e Islami, Jamaat-e-Tulba, Ummat–e-Islami, Jamiat-Ahl-e-Hadis, Anjuman-Tahfaz-ul-Islam, Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen and the Muslim Employees Front banded together to form the Muslim United Front (MUF). Their election campaign revolved round a commitment to Islamicise Kashmiri society with the imposition of Nizam e Mustafa (system based on Islamic Shariah) in Kashmir.

The Muslim United Front (MUF) in 1987 contested the 1987 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. The Muslim United Front was expected to win approximately 20 seats but it received victory in only 4 of the 43 electoral constituencies despite its high vote share of 31 per cent. The elections were widespreadly believed to have been rigged by the ruling party National Conference, allied with the Indian National Congress.

BBC reported that Khem Lata Wukhloo, who was a leader of the Congress party at the time, admitted the widespread rigging in Kashmir. He stated:

"I remember that there was a massive rigging in 1987 elections. The losing candidates were declared winners. It shook the ordinary people's faith in the elections and the democratic process."

1989 popular insurgency and militancy

In the years since 1990, the Kashmiri Muslims and the Indian government have conspired to abolish the complexities of Kashmiri civilization. The world it inhabited has vanished: the state government and the political class, the rule of law, almost all the Hindu inhabitants of the valley, alcohol, cinemas, cricket matches, picnics by moonlight in the saffron fields, schools, universities, an independent press, tourists and banks. In this reduction of civilian reality, the sights of Kashmir are redefined: not the lakes and Mogul gardens, or the storied triumphs of Kashmiri agriculture, handicrafts and cookery, but two entities that confront each other without intermediary: the mosque and the army camp.

— British journalist James Buchan

In 1989, a widespread popular and armed insurgency started in Kashmir. After the 1987 state legislative assembly election, some of the results were disputed. This resulted in the formation of militant wings and marked the beginning of the Mujahadeen insurgency, which continues to this day. India contends that the insurgency was largely started by Afghan mujahadeen who entered the Kashmir valley following the end of the Soviet-Afghan War. Yasin Malik, a leader of one faction of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, was one of the Kashmiris to organise militancy in Kashmir, along with Ashfaq Majid Wani and Farooq Ahmad Dar (alias Bitta Karatay). Since 1995, Malik has renounced the use of violence and calls for strictly peaceful methods to resolve the dispute. Malik developed differences with one of the senior leaders, Farooq Siddiqui (alias Farooq Papa), for shunning demands for an independent Kashmir and trying to cut a deal with the Indian Prime Minister. This resulted in a split in which Bitta Karatay, Salim Nanhaji, and other senior comrades joined Farooq Papa. Pakistan claims these insurgents are Jammu and Kashmir citizens, and are rising up against the Indian army as part of an independence movement. Amnesty International has accused security forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir of exploiting an Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that enables them to "hold prisoners without trial". The group argues that the law, which allows security forces to detain individuals for up to two years without presenting charges violates prisoners' human rights. In 2011, the state humans right commission said it had evidence that 2,156 bodies had been buried in 40 graves over the last 20 years. The authorities deny such accusations. The security forces say the unidentified dead are militants who may have originally come from outside India. They also say that many of the missing people have crossed into Pakistan-administered Kashmir to engage in militancy. However, according to the state human rights commission, among the identified bodies 574 were those of "disappeared locals", and according to Amnesty International's annual human rights report (2012) it was sufficient for "belying the security forces' claim that they were militants".

India claims these insurgents are Islamic terrorist groups from Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Afghanistan, fighting to make Jammu and Kashmir a part of Pakistan. They claim Pakistan supplies munitions to the terrorists and trains them in Pakistan. India states that the terrorists have killed many citizens in Kashmir and committed human rights violations whilst denying that their own armed forces are responsible for human rights abuses. On a visit to Pakistan in 2006, former Chief Minister of Kashmir Omar Abdullah remarked that foreign militants were engaged in reckless killings and mayhem in the name of religion. The Indian government has said militancy is now on the decline.

The Pakistani government calls these insurgents "Kashmiri freedom fighters", and claims that it provides them only moral and diplomatic support, although India believes they are Pakistan-supported terrorists from Pakistan Administered Kashmir. In October 2008, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan called the Kashmir separatists "terrorists" in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. These comments sparked outrage amongst many Kashmiris, some of whom defied a curfew imposed by the Indian army to burn him in effigy.

In 2008, pro-separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told the Washington Post that there has been a "purely indigenous, purely Kashmiri" peaceful protest movement alongside the insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir since 1989. The movement was created for the same reason as the insurgency and began after the disputed election of 1987. According to the United Nations, the Kashmiris have grievances with the Indian government, specifically the Indian Military, which has committed human rights violations, .

1999 Conflict in Kargil

In mid-1999, alleged insurgents and Pakistani soldiers from Pakistani Kashmir infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir. During the winter season, Indian forces regularly move down to lower altitudes, as severe climatic conditions makes it almost impossible for them to guard the high peaks near the Line of Control. This practice is followed by both India and Pakistan Army. The terrain makes it difficult for both sides to maintain a strict border control over Line of Control. The insurgents took advantage of this and occupied vacant mountain peaks in the Kargil range overlooking the highway in Indian Kashmir that connects Srinagar and Leh. By blocking the highway, they could cut off the only link between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. This resulted in a large-scale conflict between the Indian and Pakistani armies. The final stage involved major battles by Indian and Pakistani forces resulting in India recapturing most of the territories held by Pakistani forces.

Fears of the Kargil War turning into a nuclear war provoked the then-United States President Bill Clinton to pressure Pakistan to retreat. The Pakistan Army withdrew their remaining troops from the area, ending the conflict. India regained possession of Kargil, which they now patrol and monitor all year long.

2000s Al-Qaeda involvement

In a 'Letter to American People' written by Osama bin Laden in 2002, he stated that one of the reasons he was fighting America was because of its support for India on the Kashmir issue. While on a trip to Delhi in 2002, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld suggested that Al-Qaeda was active in Kashmir, though he did not have any hard evidence. An investigation by a Christian Science Monitor reporter in 2002 claimed to have unearthed evidence that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates were prospering in Pakistan-administered Kashmir with tacit approval of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI). In 2002, a team comprising Special Air Service and Delta Force personnel was sent into Indian-administered Kashmir to hunt for Osama bin Laden after reports that he was being sheltered by the Kashmiri militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. US officials believed that Al-Qaeda was helping organise a campaign of terror in Kashmir to provoke conflict between India and Pakistan. Their strategy was to force Pakistan to move its troops to the border with India, thereby relieving pressure on Al-Qaeda elements hiding in northwestern Pakistan. US intelligence analysts say Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives in Pakistan-administered Kashmir are helping terrorists trained in Afghanistan to infiltrate Indian-administered Kashmir. Fazlur Rehman Khalil, the leader of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, signed al-Qaeda's 1998 declaration of holy war, which called on Muslims to attack all Americans and their allies. In 2006 Al-Qaeda claim they have established a wing in Kashmir, which worried the Indian government. Indian Army Lieutenant General H.S. Panag, GOC-in-C Northern Command, told reporters that the army has ruled out the presence of Al-Qaeda in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. He said that there no evidence to verify media reports of an Al-Qaeda presence in the state. He ruled out Al-Qaeda ties with the militant groups in Kashmir including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. However, he stated that they had information about Al Qaeda's strong ties with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed operations in Pakistan. While on a visit to Pakistan in January 2010, US Defense secretary Robert Gates stated that Al-Qaeda was seeking to destabilise the region and planning to provoke a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.

In June 2011, a US Drone strike killed Ilyas Kashmiri, chief of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, a Kashmiri militant group associated with Al-Qaeda. Kashmiri was described by Bruce Riedel as a 'prominent' Al-Qaeda member, while others described him as the head of military operations for Al-Qaeda. Waziristan had by then become the new battlefield for Kashmiri militants fighting NATO in support of Al-Qaeda. Ilyas Kashmiri was charged by the US in a plot against Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper at the center of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. In April 2012, Farman Ali Shinwari a former member of Kashmiri separatist groups Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, was appointed chief of al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

Reasons behind the dispute

The Kashmir Conflict arose from the Partition of British India in 1947 into modern India and Pakistan. Both countries subsequently made claims to Kashmir, based on the history and religious affiliations of the Kashmiri people. The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which lies strategically in the north-west of the subcontinent bordering Afghanistan and China, was formerly ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh under the paramountcy of British India. In geographical and legal terms, the Maharaja could have joined either of the two new countries. Although urged by the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, to determine the future of his state before the transfer of power took place, Singh demurred. In October 1947, incursions by Pakistan took place leading to a war, as a result of which the state of Jammu and Kashmir remains divided between India and Pakistan.

Two-thirds of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, comprising Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, and the sparsely populated Buddhist area of Ladakh are controlled by India while one-third is administered by Pakistan. The latter includes a narrow strip of land called Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas, comprising the Gilgit Agency, Baltistan, and the former kingdoms of Hunza and Nagar. Attempts to resolve the dispute through political discussions have been unsuccessful. In September 1965, war again broke out between Pakistan and India. The United Nations called for another cease-fire, and peace was restored following the Tashkent Declaration in 1966, by which both nations returned to their original positions along the demarcated line. After the 1971 war and the creation of independent Bangladesh under the terms of the 1972 Simla Agreement between Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan, it was agreed that neither country would seek to alter the cease-fire line in Kashmir, which was renamed as the Line of Control, "unilaterally, irrespective of mutual differences and legal interpretations".

Numerous violations of the Line of Control have occurred, including incursions by insurgents and Pakistani armed forces at Kargil leading to the Kargil war. There have also been sporadic clashes on the Siachen Glacier, where the Line of Control is not demarcated and both countries maintain forces at altitudes rising to 20,000 ft (6,100 m), with the Indian forces serving at higher altitudes.

Indian view

India has officially stated that it believes that Kashmir to be an integral part of India, though the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, stated after the 2010 Kashmir Unrest that his government was willing to grant autonomy to the region within the purview of Indian constitution if there was consensus on this issue. The Indian viewpoint is succinctly summarised by Ministry of External affairs, Government of India —

• India holds that the Instrument of Accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India, signed by Maharaja Hari Singh (erstwhile ruler of the State) on 25 October 1947 and executed on 27 October 1947 between the ruler of Kashmir and the Governor General of India was a legal act and completely valid in terms of the Government of India Act (1935), Indian Independence Act (1947) as well as under international law and as such was total and irrevocable.
• The Constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir had unanimously ratified the Maharaja's Instrument of Accession to India and adopted a constitution for the state that called for a perpetual merger of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India. India claims that the constituent assembly was a representative one, and that its views were those of the Kashmiri people at the time.
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1172 tacitly accepts India's stand regarding all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan and urges the need to resolve the dispute through mutual dialogue without the need for a plebiscite in the framework of UN Charter.
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 cannot be implemented since Pakistan failed to withdraw its forces from Kashmir, which was the first step in implementing the resolution. India is also of the view that Resolution 47 is obsolete, since the geography and demographics of the region have permanently altered since it adoption. The resolution was passed by United Nations Security Council under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter and as such is non-binding with no mandatory enforceability, as opposed to resolutions passed under Chapter VII.
• India does not accept the two-nation theory that forms the basis of Pakistan's claims and considers that Kashmir, despite being a Muslim-majority state, is in many ways an "integral part" of secular India.
• The state of Jammu and Kashmir was provided with significant autonomy under Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
• All differences between India and Pakistan, including Kashmir, need to be settled through bilateral negotiations as agreed to by the two countries under the Simla Agreement signed on 2 July 1972.

Additional Indian viewpoints regarding the broader debate over the Kashmir conflict include –

• In a diverse country like India, disaffection and discontent are not uncommon. Indian democracy has the necessary resilience to accommodate genuine grievances within the framework of India's sovereignty, unity, and integrity. The Government of India has expressed its willingness to accommodate the legitimate political demands of the people of the state of Kashmir.
• Insurgency and terrorism in Kashmir is deliberately fuelled by Pakistan to create instability in the region. The Government of India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of waging a proxy war in Kashmir by providing weapons and financial assistance to terrorist groups in the region.
• Pakistan is trying to raise anti-India sentiment among the people of Kashmir by spreading false propaganda against India. According to the state government of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistani radio and television channels deliberately spread "hate and venom" against India to alter Kashmiri opinion.
• India has asked the United Nations not to leave unchallenged or unaddressed the claims of moral, political, and diplomatic support for terrorism, which were clearly in contravention of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373. This is a Chapter VII resolution that makes it mandatory for member states to not provide active or passive support to terrorist organisations. Specifically, it has pointed out that the Pakistani government continues to support various terrorist organisations, such as Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, in direct violation of this resolution.
• India points out reports by human rights organisations condemning Pakistan for the lack of civic liberties in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. According to India, most regions of Pakistani Kashmir, especially Northern Areas, continue to suffer from lack of political recognition, economic development, and basic fundamental rights.
• Karan Singh, the son of the last ruler of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu, has said that the Instrument of Accession signed by his father was the same as signed by other states. He opined that Kashmir was therefore a part of India, and that its special status granted by Article 370 of the Indian Constitution stemmed from the fact that it had its own constitution.

In 2008, the death toll from the last 20 years was estimated by Indian authorities to be over 47,000.

Pakistani view

Pakistan maintains that Kashmir is the "jugular vein of Pakistan" and a currently disputed territory whose final status must be determined by the people of Kashmir. Pakistan's claims to the disputed region are based on the rejection of Indian claims to Kashmir, namely the Instrument of Accession. Pakistan insists that the Maharaja was not a popular leader, and was regarded as a tyrant by most Kashmiris. Pakistan maintains that the Maharaja used brute force to suppress the population.

Pakistan claims that Indian forces were in Kashmir before the Instrument of Accession was signed with India, and that therefore Indian troops were in Kashmir in violation of the Standstill Agreement, which was designed to maintain the status quo in Kashmir (although India was not signatory to the Agreement, which was signed between Pakistan and the Hindu ruler of Jammu and Kashmir).

From 1990 to 1999, some organisations reported that the Indian Armed Forces, its paramilitary groups, and counter-insurgent militias were responsible for the deaths of 4,501 Kashmiri civilians. During the same period, there were records of 4,242 women between the ages of 7–70 being raped. Similar allegations were also made by some human rights organisations.

In short, Pakistan holds that –

• The popular Kashmiri insurgency demonstrates that the Kashmiri people no longer wish to remain within India. Pakistan suggests that this means that Kashmir either wants to be with Pakistan or independent.
• According to the two-nation theory, one of the principles that is cited for the partition that created India and Pakistan, Kashmir should have been with Pakistan, because it has a Muslim majority.
• India has shown disregard for the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the United Nations Commission in India and Pakistan by failing to hold a plebiscite to determine the future allegiance of the state.
• The reason for India's disregard of the resolutions of the UN Security Council was given by India's Defense Minister, Kirshnan Menon, who said: "Kashmir would vote to join Pakistan and no Indian Government responsible for agreeing to plebiscite would survive.''
• Pakistan was of the view that the Maharaja of Kashmir had no right to call in the Indian Army, because it held that the Maharaja of Kashmir was not a hereditary ruler and was merely a British appointee, after the British defeated Ranjit Singh who ruled the area before the British conquest.
• Pakistan has noted the widespread use of extrajudicial killings in Indian-administered Kashmir carried out by Indian security forces while claiming they were caught up in encounters with militants. These encounters are commonplace in Indian-administered Kashmir. The encounters go largely uninvestigated by the authorities, and the perpetrators are spared criminal prosecution.

Human rights organisations have strongly condemned Indian troops for widespread rape and murder of innocent civilians while accusing these civilians of being militants.

• The Chenab formula was a compromise proposed in the 1960s, in which the Kashmir valley and other Muslim-dominated areas north of the Chenab river would go to Pakistan, and Jammu and other Hindu-dominated regions would go to India.

Former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf on 16 October 2014 said that Pakistan needs to incite those fighting in Kashmir, "We have source (in Kashmir) besides the (Pakistan) army…People in Kashmir are fighting against (India). We just need to incite them," Musharraf told a TV channel.

In 2015 Pakistan’s outgoing National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan wished to have third party mediation on Kashmir, but it was unlikely to happen unless by international pressure. “Under Shimla Accord it was decided that India and Pakistan would resolve their disputes bilaterally,” Aziz said. “Such bilateral talks have not yielded any results for the last 40 years. So then what is the solution?”

A survey carried out across both Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by London-based thinktank Chatham House, its author claims 'is the first ever of its kind', shows that only 2% of the respondents on the Indian side favour joining Pakistan.

Chinese view

China states that Aksai Chin is an integral part of China and does not recognise the inclusion of Aksai Chin as part of the Kashmir region.

• China did not accept the boundaries of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu, north of Aksai Chin and the Karakoram as proposed by the British.
• China settled its border disputes with Pakistan under the 1963 Trans Karakoram Tract with the provision that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Kashmir dispute.

Cross-border troubles

The border and the Line of Control separating Indian and Pakistani Kashmir passes through some exceptionally difficult terrain. The world's highest battleground, the Siachen Glacier, is a part of this difficult-to-man boundary. Even with 200,000 military personnel, India maintains that it is infeasible to place enough men to guard all sections of the border throughout the various seasons of the year. Pakistan has indirectly acquiesced its role in failing to prevent "cross-border terrorism" when it agreed to curb such activities after intense pressure from the Bush administration in mid-2002.

The Government of Pakistan has repeatedly claimed that by constructing a fence along the line of control, India is violating the Shimla Accord. India claims the construction of the fence has helped decrease armed infiltration into Indian-administered Kashmir.

In 2002, Pakistani President and Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf promised to check infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.

Water dispute

Another reason for the dispute over Kashmir is water. Kashmir is the source of many rivers and tributaries in the Indus River basin. This basin is divided between Pakistan, which has about 60 percent of the catchment area, India with about 20 percent, Afghanistan with 5 percent and around 15 percent in China (Tibet autonomous region). The river tributaries are the Jhelum and Chenab rivers, which primarily flow into Pakistan, while other branches—the Ravi, Beas, and the Sutlej—irrigate northern India.

The Indus is a river system that sustains communities in India and Pakistan. Both have extensively dammed the Indus River for irrigation of their crops and hydro-electricity systems. In arbitrating the conflict in 1947, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, decided to demarcate the territories as he was unable to give to one or the other the control over the river as it was a main economic resource for both areas. The Line of Control (LoC) was recognised as an international border establishing that India would have control over the upper riparian and Pakistan over the lower riparian of the Indus and its tributaries. Despite appearing to be separate issues, the Kashmir dispute and the dispute over the water control are in reality related and the fight over the water remains one of the main problems in establishing good relations between the two countries.

In 1948, Eugene Black, then president of the World Bank, offered his services to solve the tension over water control. In the early days of independence, the fact that India was able to shut off the Central Bari Doab Canals at the time of the sowing season, causing significant damage to Pakistan's crops. Nevertheless, military and political clashes over Kashmir in the early years of independence appear to have been more about ideology and sovereignty rather than over the sharing of water resources. However, the minister of Pakistan has stated the opposite.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed by both countries in September 1960, giving exclusive rights over the three western rivers of the Indus river system (Jhelum, Chenab and Indus) to Pakistan, and over the three eastern rivers (Sutlej, Ravi and Beas) to India, as long as this does not reduce or delay the supply to Pakistan. India therefore maintains that they are not willing to break the established regulations and they see no more problems with this issue.

Pakistan's relation with militants

India has furnished documentary evidence to the United Nations that Pakistan supports Kashmiri militants, leading to a ban on some terrorist organisations, which Pakistan has yet to enforce. Former President of Pakistan and the ex-chief of the Pakistan military Pervez Musharraf, stated in an interview in London, that the Pakistani government indeed helped to form underground militant groups and "turned a blind eye" towards their existence.

According to former Indian Prime-minister Manmohan Singh, one of the main reasons behind the conflict was Pakistan's "terror-induced coercion". He further stated at a Joint Press Conference with United States President Barack Obama in New Delhi that India is not afraid of resolving all the issues with Pakistan including that of Kashmir "but it is our request that you cannot simultaneously be talking and at the same time the terror machine is as active as ever before. Once Pakistan moves away from this terror-induced coercion, we will be very happy to engage productively with Pakistan to resolve all outstanding issues."

In 2009, the President of Pakistan Asif Zardari asserted at a conference in Islamabad that Pakistan had indeed created Islamic militant groups as a strategic tool for use in its geostrategic agenda and "to attack Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir". Former President of Pakistan and the ex-chief of the Pakistan military Pervez Musharraf also stated in an interview that Pakistani government helped to form underground militant groups to fight against Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir and "turned a blind eye" towards their existence because it wanted to force India to enter negotiations. The British Government have formally accepted that there is a clear connection between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and three major militant outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The militants are provided with "weapons, training, advice and planning assistance" in Punjab and Kashmir by the ISI which is "coordinating the shipment of arms from the Pakistani side of Kashmir to the Indian side, where Muslim insurgents are waging a protracted war".

Throughout the 1990s, the ISI maintained its relationship with extremist networks and militants that it had established during the Afghan war to utilise in its campaign against Indian forces in Kashmir. Joint Intelligence/North (JIN) has been accused of conducting operations in Jammu and Kashmir and also Afghanistan. The Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau (JSIB) provide communications support to groups in Kashmir. According to Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, both former members of the National Security Council, the ISI acted as a "kind of terrorist conveyor belt" radicalising young men in the Madrassas of Pakistan and delivering them to training camps affiliated with or run by Al-Qaeda and from there moving them into Jammu and Kashmir to launch attacks.

Reportedly, about Rs. 24 million are paid out per month by the ISI to fund its activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Pro-Pakistani groups were reportedly favoured over other militant groups. Creation of six militant groups in Kashmir, which included Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was aided by the ISI. According to American Intelligence officials, ISI is still providing protection and help to LeT. The Pakistan Army and ISI also LeT volunteers to surreptitiously penetrate from Pakistan Administrated Kashmir to Jammu and Kashmir.

In the past, Indian authorities have alleged several times that Pakistan has been involved in training and arming underground militant groups to fight Indian forces in Kashmir.

Human rights abuse

Indian administered Kashmir

The 2010 Chatham House opinion poll of the people of Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir found that overall concern, in the entire state, over human rights abuses was 43%. In the surveyed districts of the Muslim majority Kashmir Valley, where the desire for Independence is strongest, there was a high rate of concern over human rights abuses. (88% in Baramulla, 87% in Srinagar, 73% in Anantnag and 55% in Badgam). However in the Hindu majority and Buddhist majority areas of the state, where pro-India sentiment is extremely strong, concern over human rights abuses was low (only 3% in Jammu expressed concerns over human rights abuses).

Claims of human rights abuses have been made against the Indian Armed Forces and armed insurgents operating in Jammu and Kashmir. Since 1989, over 50,000 people are claimed to have died during the conflict. Data released in 2011 by Jammu and Kashmir government stated that, in the last 21 years, 43,460 people have been killed in the Kashmir insurgency. Of these, 21,323 are militants, 13,226 civilians killed by militants, 3,642 civilians killed by security forces, and 5,369 policemen killed by militants. Human rights watch also blamed both Indian security forces and Kashmiri separatist militants for human rights abuses.

In its report of September 2006, Human Rights Watch stated that,

Indian security forces claim they are fighting to protect Kashmiris from militants and Islamic extremists, while militants claim they are fighting for Kashmiri independence and to defend Muslim Kashmiris from an abusive Indian army. In reality, both sides have committed widespread and numerous human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law (or the laws of war).

Human Rights Watch also blamed Pakistan for supporting militants in Kashmir, in same 2006 report it says, "There is considerable evidence that over many years Pakistan has provided Kashmiri militants with training, weapons, funding and sanctuary. Pakistan remains accountable for abuses committed by militants that it has armed and trained."

Some human rights organisations have alleged that Indian Security forces have killed hundreds of Kashmiris through the indiscriminate use of force and torture, firing on demonstrations, custodial killings, encounters and detensions. The government of India denied that torture was widespread and stated that some custodial crimes may have taken place but that "these are few and far between". According to one human rights report in Kashmir there have been more than three hundred cases of "disappearances" since 1990. State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has found 2,730 bodies buried into unmarked graves scattered all over Kashmir believed to contain the remains of victims of unlawful killings and enforced disappearances by Indian security forces. SHRC stated that about 574 of these bodies have already been identified as those of disappeared locals. SHRC also accused Indian army of forced labour. According to cables leaked by the WikiLeaks website, US diplomats in 2005 were informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about the use of torture and sexual humiliation against hundreds of Kashmiri detainees by the security forces. The cable said Indian security forces relied on torture for confessions and that the human right abuses are believed to be condoned by the Indian government. In 2012, the Jammu and Kashmir State government stripped its State Information Commission (SIC) department of most powers after the commission asked the government to disclose information about the unmarked graves. This state action was reportedly denounced by the former National Chief Information Commissioner. A state government inquiry into the 22 October 1993 Bijbehara killings, in which the Indian military fired on a procession and killed 40 people and injured 150, found out that the firing by the forces was 'unprovoked' and the claim of the military that it was in retaliation was 'concocted and baseless'. However, the accused are still to be punished.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch,

Indian security forces have assaulted civilians during search operations, tortured and summarily executed detainees in custody and murdered civilians in reprisal attacks. Rape most often occurs during crackdowns, cordon-and-search operations during which men are held for identification in parks or schoolyards while security forces search their homes. In these situations, the security forces frequently engage in collective punishment against the civilian population, most frequently by beating or otherwise assaulting residents, and burning their homes. Rape is used as a means of targetting women whom the security forces accuse of being militant sympathizers; in raping them, the security forces are attempting to punish and humiliate the entire community.

The allegation of mass rape incidents as well as forced disappearances are reflected in a Kashmiri short documentary film by an Independent Kashmiri film-maker, the Ocean of Tears produced by a non-governmental non-profit organisation called the Public Service Broadcasting Trust of India and approved by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India). The film also depicts mass rape incidents in Kunan Poshpora and Shopian as facts and alleging that Indian Security Forces were responsible. A report from the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that the seven people killed in 2000 by the Indian military, were innocent civilians. The Indian Army has decided to try the accused in the General Court Martial. It was also reported that the killings that were allegedly committed in "cold-blood" by the Army, were actually in retaliation for the murder of 36 civilians by militants at Chattisingpora in 2000. The official stance of the Indian Army was that, according to its own investigation, 97% of the reports about human rights abuses have been found to be "fake or motivated". However, there have been at least one case where civilians have been killed in 'fake encounters' by Indian army personnel for cash rewards.

Our people were killed. I saw a girl tortured with cigarette butts. Another man had his eyes pulled out and his body hung on a tree. The armed separatists used a chainsaw to cut our bodies into pieces. It wasn't just the killing but the way they tortured and killed.

— A crying old Kashmiri Hindu in refugee camps of Jammu told BBC news reporter

The violence was condemned and labelled as ethnic cleansing in a 2006 resolution passed by the United States Congress. It stated that the Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and began an ethnic cleansing campaign to convert Kashmir into a Muslim state. According to the same resolution, since then nearly 400,000 Pandits were either murdered or forced to leave their ancestral homes.

According to a Hindu American Foundation report, the rights and religious freedom of Kashmiri Hindus have been severely curtailed since 1989, when there was an organised and systematic campaign by Islamist militants to cleanse Hindus from Kashmir. Less than 4,000 Kashmiri Hindus remain in the valley, reportedly living with daily threats of violence and terrorism.

According to an op-ed published in a BBC journal, the emphasis of the movement after 1989, ″soon shifted from nationalism to Islam.″ It also claimed that the minority community of Kashmiri Pandits, who have lived in Kashmir for centuries, were forced to leave their homeland.

The displaced Pandits, many of who continue to live in temporary refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi, are still unable to safely return to their homeland. The lead in this act of ethnic cleansing was initially taken by the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front and the Hizbul Mujahideen. According to Indian media, all this happened at the instigation of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) by a group of Kashmiri terrorist elements who were trained, armed and motivated by the ISI. Reportedly, organisations trained and armed by the ISI continued this ethnic cleansing until practically all the Kashmiri Pandits were driven out after having been subjected to numerous indignities and brutalities such as rape of their women, torture, forcible seizure of property etc. The separatists in Kashmir deny these allegations. The Indian government is also trying to reinstate the displaced Pandits in Kashmir. Tahir, the district commander of a separatist Islamic group in Kashmir, stated: "We want the Kashmiri Pandits to come back. They are our brothers. We will try to protect them." But the majority of the Pandits, who have been living in pitiable conditions in Jammu, believe that, until insurgency ceases to exist, return is not possible.

Mustafa Kamal, brother of Union Minister Farooq Abdullah, blamed security forces, former Jammu and Kashmir governor Jagmohan and PDP leader Mufti Sayeed for forcing the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. Jagmohan denies these allegations.

Reports by the Indian government state 219 Kashmiri pandits were killed and around 140,000 migrated due to millitancy while over 3000 remained in the valley. The local organisation of pandits in Kashmir, Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti claimed that 399 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by insurgents.

The CIA has reported that at least 506,000 people from Indian Administered Kashmir are internally displaced, about half of who are Hindu Pandits. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCR) reports that there are roughly 1.5 million refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir, the bulk of who arrived in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in Pakistan after the situation on the Indian side worsened in 1989 insurgency.

Médecins Sans Frontières conducted a research survey in 2005 that found 11.6% of the interviewees who took part had been victims of sexual abuse since 1989. Some surveys have found that in the Kashmir region itself (where the bulk of separatist and Indian military activity is concentrated), popular perception holds that the Indian Armed Forces are more to blame for human rights violations than the separatist groups. Amnesty International has called on India to "unequivocally condemn enforced disappearances" and to ensure that impartial investigations are conducted into mass graves in its Kashmir region. The Indian state police confirms as many as 331 deaths while in custody and 111 enforced disappearances since 1989. Amnesty International criticised the Indian Military regarding an incident on 22 April 1996, when several armed forces personnel forcibly entered the house of a 32-year-old woman in the village of Wawoosa in the Rangreth district of Jammu and Kashmir. They reportedly molested her 12-year-old daughter and raped her other three daughters, aged 14, 16, and 18. When another woman attempted to prevent the soldiers from attacking her two daughters, she was beaten. Soldiers reportedly told her 17-year-old daughter to remove her clothes so that they could check whether she was hiding a gun. They molested her before leaving the house.

Several international agencies and the UN have reported human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir. In a recent press release the OHCHR spokesmen stated "The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is concerned about the recent violent protests in Indian-administered Kashmir that have reportedly led to civilian casualties as well as restrictions to the right to freedom of assembly and expression." A 1996 Human Rights Watch report accuses the Indian military and Indian-government backed paramilitaries of "committ serious and widespread human rights violations in Kashmir." One such alleged massacre occurred on 6 January 1993 in the town of Sopore. TIME Magazine described the incident as such: "In retaliation for the killing of one soldier, paramilitary forces rampaged through Sopore's market, setting buildings ablaze and shooting bystanders. The Indian government pronounced the event 'unfortunate' and claimed that an ammunition dump had been hit by gunfire, setting off fires that killed most of the victims." There have been claims of disappearances by the police or the army in Kashmir by several human rights organisations. Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978: Human rights organisations have asked Indian government to repeal the Public Safety Act, since "a detainee may be held in administrative detention for a maximum of two years without a court order."

Many human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have condemned human rights abuses in Kashmir by Indians such as "extra-judicial executions", "disappearances", and torture. The "Armed Forces Special Powers Act" grants the military, wide powers of arrest, the right to shoot to kill, and to occupy or destroy property in counterinsurgency operations. Indian officials claim that troops need such powers because the army is only deployed when national security is at serious risk from armed combatants. Such circumstances, they say, call for extraordinary measures. Human rights organisations have also asked the Indian government to repeal the Public Safety Act, since "a detainee may be held in administrative detention for a maximum of two years without a court order." A 2008 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determined that Indian Administered Kashmir was only 'partly free'. A recent report by Amnesty International stated that up to 20,000 people have been detained under a law called AFSPA in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Pakistan administered Kashmir

Azad Kashmir

The 2010 Chatham House opinion poll of Azad Kashmir's people found that overall concerns about human rights abuses in 'Azad Kashmir' was 19%. The district where concern over human rights abuses was greatest was Bhimber where 32% of people expressed concern over human rights abuses. The lowest was in the district of Sudanhoti where concern over human rights abuses was a mere 5%.

Claims of religious discrimination and restrictions on religious freedom in Azad Kashmir have been made against Pakistan. The country is also accused of systemic suppression of free speech and demonstrations against the government. UNHCR reported that a number of Islamist militant groups, including al-Qaeda, operate from bases in Pakistani-administered Kashmir with the tacit permission of ISI There have also been several allegations of human rights abuse.

In 2006, Human Rights Watch accused ISI and the military of systemic torture with the purpose of "punishing" errant politicians, political activists and journalists in Azad Kashmir. A report titled "Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects", submitted to the European Parliament by Emma Nicholson, was critical of the lack of human rights, justice, democracy, and Kashmiri representation in the Pakistan National Assembly. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan's ISI operates in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is accused of involvement in extensive surveillance, arbitrary arrests, torture, and murder. The 2008 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determined that Pakistan-administered Kashmir was 'not free'. According to Shaukat Ali, chairman of the International Kashmir Alliance, "On one hand Pakistan claims to be the champion of the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people, but she has denied the same rights under its controlled parts of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan".

After the 2011 elections, Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan stated that there were mistakes in the voters list which have raised questions about the credibility of the elections.

In December 1993, the blasphemy laws of Pakistan were extended to Pakistan Administered Kashmir. The area is ruled directly through a chief executive Lt. Gen. Mohammed Shafiq, appointed by Islamabad with a 26-member Northern Areas Council.

UNCR reports that the status of women in Pakistani-administered Kashmir is similar to that of women in Pakistan. They are not granted equal rights under the law, and their educational opportunities and choice of marriage partner remain "circumscribed". Domestic violence, forced marriage, and other forms of abuse continue to be issues of concern. In May 2007, the United Nations and other aid agencies temporarily suspended their work after suspected Islamists mounted an arson attack on the home of two aid workers after the organisations had received warnings against hiring women. However, honour killings and rape occur less frequently than in other areas of Pakistan.

Gilgit-Baltistan

The main demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is constitutional status for the region as a fifth province of Pakistan. However, Pakistan claims that Gilgit-Baltistan cannot be given constitutional status due to Pakistan's commitment to the 1948 UN resolution. In 2007, the International Crisis Group stated that "Almost six decades after Pakistan's independence, the constitutional status of the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), once part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and now under Pakistani control, remains undetermined, with political autonomy a distant dream. The region's inhabitants are embittered by Islamabad's unwillingness to devolve powers in real terms to its elected representatives, and a nationalist movement, which seeks independence, is gaining ground. The rise of sectarian extremism is an alarming consequence of this denial of basic political rights". A two-day conference on Gilgit-Baltistan was held on 8–9 April 2008 at the European Parliament in Brussels under the auspices of the International Kashmir Alliance. Several members of the European Parliament expressed concern over human rights violations in Gilgit-Baltistan and urged the government of Pakistan to establish democratic institutions and the rule of law in the area.

In 2009, the Pakistani government implemented an autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan, which entails rights similar to those of Pakistan’s other provinces. Gilgit-Baltistan thus gains province-like status without actually being conferred such status constitutionally. Direct rule by Islamabad has been replaced by an elected legislative assembly under a chief minister.

There has been criticism and opposition to this move in Pakistan, India, and Pakistan administrated Kashmir. The move has been dubbed a cover-up to hide the real mechanics of power, which allegedly are under the direct control of the Pakistani federal government. The package was opposed by Pakistani Kashmiri politicians who claimed that the integration of Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan would undermine their case for the independence of Kashmir from India. 300 activists from Kashmiri groups protested during the first Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly elections, with some carrying banners reading "Pakistan's expansionist designs in Gilgit-Baltistan are unacceptable"

In December 2009, activists from nationalist Kashmiri groups staged a protest in Muzaffarabad to condemn the alleged rigging of elections and the killing of an 18-year-old student.

Map issues

As with other disputed territories, each government issues maps depicting their claims in Kashmir territory, regardless of actual control. Due to India's Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1961, it is illegal in India to exclude all or part of Kashmir from a map (or to publish any map that differs from those of the Survey of India). It is illegal in Pakistan not to include the state of Jammu and Kashmir as disputed territory, as permitted by the United Nations. Non-participants often use the Line of Control and the Line of Actual Control as the depicted boundaries, as is done in the CIA World Factbook, while the region is often marked out in hashmarks. When Microsoft released a map in Windows 95 and MapPoint 2002, a controversy arose because it did not show all of Kashmir as part of India as per the Indian claim. All neutral and Pakistani companies claim to follow the UN's map and over 90% of all maps containing the territory of Kashmir show it as disputed territory.

In 2010, Jammu and Kashmir was removed from the United Nations list of unresolved disputes, in a setback to Pakistan which has been asking the world body to intervene on the issue.

Recent developments

India continues to assert its sovereignty or rights over the entire region of Kashmir, while Pakistan maintains that it is a disputed territory. Pakistan argues that the status quo cannot be considered as a solution and further insists on a UN-sponsored plebiscite. Unofficially, the Pakistani leadership has indicated that they would be willing to accept alternatives such as a demilitarised Kashmir, if sovereignty of Azad Kashmir was to be extended over the Kashmir valley, or the "Chenab" formula, by which India would retain parts of Kashmir on its side of the Chenab river, and Pakistan the other side—effectively re-partitioning Kashmir on communal lines. The problem with the proposal is that the population of the Pakistan-administered portion of Kashmir is for the most part ethnically, linguistically, and culturally different from the Valley of Kashmir, a part of Indian-administered Kashmir. Partition based on the Chenab formula is opposed by some Kashmiri politicians, although others, including Sajjad Lone, have suggested that the non-Muslim part of Jammu and Kashmir be separated from Kashmir and handed to India. Some political analysts say that the Pakistan state policy shift and mellowing of its aggressive stance may have to do with its total failure in the Kargil War and the subsequent 9/11 attacks. These events put pressure on Pakistan to alter its position on terrorism. Many neutral parties to the dispute have noted that the UN resolution on Kashmir is no longer relevant. The European Union holds the view that the plebiscite is not in Kashmiris' interest. The report notes that the UN conditions for such a plebiscite have not been, and can no longer be, met by Pakistan. The Hurriyat Conference observed in 2003 that a "plebiscite no longer an option". Besides the popular factions that support one or other of the parties, there is a third faction which supports independence and withdrawal of both India and Pakistan. These have been the respective stands of the parties for a long while, and there have been no significant changes over the years. As a result, all efforts to solve the conflict have so far proved futile.

Revelations made on 24 September 2013 by the former Indian army chief General V. K. Singh claim that the state politicians of Jammu and Kashmir are funded by the army secret service to keep the general public calm and that this activity has been going on since Partition. He also stated that the secret service paid a bribe to a politician to topple the state government, which was pushing for AFSPA repeal in 2010.

In a 2001 report entitled "Pakistan's Role in the Kashmir Insurgency" from the American RAND Corporation, the think tank noted that "the nature of the Kashmir conflict has been transformed from what was originally a secular, locally based struggle (conducted via the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front – JKLF) to one that is now largely carried out by foreign militants and rationalized in pan-Islamic religious terms." The majority of militant organisations are composed of foreign mercenaries, mostly from the Pakistani Punjab. In 2010, with the support of its intelligence agencies, Pakistan again 'boosted' Kashmir militants, and recruitment of mujahideen in the Pakistani state of Punjab has increased. In 2011, the FBI revealed that Pakistan's spy agency ISI paid millions of dollars into a United States-based non-governmental organisation to influence politicians and opinion-makers on the Kashmir issue and arrested Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai.

The Freedom in the World 2006 report categorised Indian-administered Kashmir as "partly free", and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, as well as the country of Pakistan, as "not free". India claims that contrary to popular belief, a large proportion of the Jammu and Kashmir populace wishes to remain with India. A MORI survey found that within Indian-administered Kashmir, 61% of respondents said they felt they would be better off as Indian citizens, with 33% saying that they did not know, and the remaining 6% favouring Pakistani citizenship. However, this support for India was mainly in the Ladakh and Jammu regions, not the Kashmir Valley, where only 9% of the respondents said that they would be better off with India. According to a 2007 poll conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, 87% of respondents in the Kashmir Valley prefer independence over union with India or Pakistan. However, a survey by Chatham House in both Indian and Pakistani administered Kashmir found that support for independence stood at 43% and 44% respectively.

The 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which killed over 80,000 people, led to India and Pakistan finalising negotiations for the opening of a road for disaster relief through Kashmir.

Efforts to end the crisis

The 9/11 attacks on the United States resulted in the US government wanting to restrain militancy in the world, including Pakistan. They urged Islamabad to cease infiltrations, which continue to this day, by Islamist militants into Indian-administered Kashmir. In December 2001, a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament linked to Pakistan resulted in war threats, massive troop deployments, and international fears of a nuclear war in the subcontinent.

After intensive diplomatic efforts by other countries, India and Pakistan began to withdraw troops from the international border on 10 June 2002, and negotiations restarted. From 26 November 2003, India and Pakistan agreed to maintain a ceasefire along the undisputed international border, the disputed Line of Control, and Actual Ground Position Line near the Siachen glacier. This was the first such "total ceasefire" declared by both powers in nearly 15 years. In February 2004, Pakistan increased pressure on Pakistanis fighting in Indian-administered Kashmir to adhere to the ceasefire. Their neighbours launched several other mutual confidence-building measures. Restarting the bus service between the Indian- and Pakistani- administered Kashmir has helped defuse tensions between the countries while both India and Pakistan have decided to co-operate on economic fronts.

In 2005, General Musharraf as well as other Pakistani leaders sought to resolve the Kashmir issue through the Chenab Formula road map. Based on the 'Dixon Plan', the Chenab Formula assigns Ladakh to India, Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) to Pakistan, proposes a plebiscite in the Kashmir Valley and splits Jammu into two-halves. On 5 December 2006, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told an Indian TV channel that Pakistan would give up its claim on Kashmir if India accepted some of his peace proposals, including a phased withdrawal of troops, self-governance for locals, no changes in the borders of Kashmir, and a joint supervision mechanism involving India, Pakistan, and Kashmir. Musharraf stated that he was ready to give up the United Nations' resolutions regarding Kashmir.

2008 militant attacks

In the week of 10 March 2008, 17 people were wounded when a blast hit the region's only highway overpass located near the civil secretariat—the seat of government of Indian-controlled Kashmir—and the region's high court. A gun battle between security forces and militants fighting against Indian rule left five people dead and two others injured on 23 March 2008. The battle began when security forces raided a house on the outskirts of the capital city of Srinagar housing militants. The Indian Army has been carrying out cordon-and-search operations against militants in Indian-administered Kashmir since the violence broke out in 1989. While the authorities say 43,000 people have been killed in the violence, various human rights groups and non-governmental organisations have put the figure at twice that number.

According to the Government of India Home Ministry, 2008 was the year with the lowest civilian casualties in 20 years, with 89 deaths, compared to a high of 1,413 in 1996. In 2008, 85 security personnel died compared to 613 in 2001, while 102 militants were killed. The human rights situation improved, with only one custodial death, and no custodial disappearances. Many analysts say Pakistan's preoccupation with jihadis within its own borders explains the relative calm.

2008 Kashmir protests

Massive demonstrations occurred after plans by the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir state government to transfer 100 acres (0.40 km) of land to a trust which runs the Hindu Amarnath shrine in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley. This land was to be used to build a shelter to house Hindu pilgrims temporarily during their annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath temple. Such demonstrations have been aloof of the fact that the India government very regularly undertakes activities for upliftment of Muslim community (as a secular government)and very regularly donates lands and other properties to the systemized Waqf Boards.

Indian security forces and the Indian army responded quickly to keep order. More than 40 unarmed protesters were killed and at least 300 were detained. The largest protests saw more than a half million people waving Pakistani flags and crying for freedom at a rally on 18 August, according to Time magazine. Pro-independence Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq warned that the peaceful uprising could lead to an upsurge in violence if India's heavy-handed crackdown on protests was not restrained. The United Nations expressed concern at India's response to peaceful protests and urged investigations be launched against Indian security personnel who had taken part in the crackdown.

Separatists and political party workers were believed to be behind stone-throwing incidents, which have led to retaliatory fire from the police. An autorickshaw laden with stones meant for distribution was seized by the police in March 2009. Following the unrest in 2008, secessionist movements got a boost.

2008 Kashmir elections

State elections were held in Indian administered Kashmir in seven phases, starting on 17 November and finishing on 24 December 2008. In spite of calls by separatists for a boycott, an unusually high turnout of more than 60% was recorded. The National Conference party, which was founded by Sheikh Abdullah and is regarded as pro-India, emerged with a majority of the seats. On 30 December, the Congress Party and the National Conference agreed to form a coalition government, with Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister. On 5 January 2009, Abdullah was sworn in as the eleventh Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

In March 2009, Abdullah stated that only 800 militants were active in the state and out of these only 30% were Kashmiris.

2009 Kashmir protests

In 2009, protests started over the alleged rape and murder of two young women in Shopian in South Kashmir. Suspicion pointed towards the police as the perpetrators. A judicial enquiry by a retired High Court official confirmed the suspicion, but a CBI enquiry reversed their conclusion. This gave fresh impetus to popular agitation against India. Significantly, the unity between the separatist parties was lacking this time.

2010 Kashmir Unrest

The 2010 Kashmir unrest was series of protests in the Muslim majority Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir which started in June 2010. These protests involved the 'Quit Jammu Kashmir Movement' launched by the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who had called for the complete demilitarisation of Jammu and Kashmir. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference made this call to protest, citing human rights abuses by Indian troops. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah attributed the 2010 unrest to the fake encounter staged by the military in Machil. Protesters shouted pro-independence slogans, defied curfews, attacked security forces with stones and burnt police vehicles and government buildings. The Jammu and Kashmir Police and Indian para-military forces fired live ammunition on the protesters, resulting in 112 deaths, including many teenagers. The protests subsided after the Indian government announced a package of measures aimed at defusing the tensions in September 2010.

2014 Jammu and Kashmir Elections

The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election, 2014 was held in Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in five phases from November 25 to December 20, 2014. Despite repeated boycott calls by separarist Hurriyat leaders, elections recorded highest voters turnout in last 25 years, that is more than 65% which is more than usual voting percentage in other states of India.

Phase wise voting percentage is as follow:

The European Parliament, on the behalf of European Union, welcomed the smooth conduct of the State Legislative Elections in the Jammu and Kashmir. The EU in its message said that, "The high voter turnout figure proves that democracy is firmly rooted in India. The EU would like to congratulate India and its democratic system for conduct of fair elections, unmarred by violence, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir". The European Parliament also takes cognizance of the fact that a large number of Kashmiri voters turned out despite calls for the boycott of elections by certain separatist forces.

October 2014

In October 2014, Indian and Pakistani troops traded gunfire over their border in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, killing at least four civilians and worsening tensions between the longtime rivals, officials on both sides have said. The small-arms and mortar exchanges – which Indian officials called the worst violation of a 2003 ceasefire – left 18 civilians wounded in India and another three in Pakistan. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes on both sides after the violence erupted on 5 October. Official reports state that nine civilians in Pakistan and seven in India were killed in three nights of fighting.

The US Presidents on Conflict

• In an interview with Joe Klein of Time magazine in October 2008, Barack Obama expressed his intention to try to work with India and Pakistan to resolve the crisis. He said he had talked to Bill Clinton about it, as Clinton has experience as a mediator. In an editorial in The Washington Times, Selig S Harrison, director of the Asia Programme at the Center for International Policy and a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars called it Obama's first foreign policy mistake. In an editorial, The Australian called Obama's idea to appoint a presidential negotiator "a very stupid and dangerous move indeed". In an editorial in Forbes, Reihan Salam, associate editor for The Atlantic, noted "The smartest thing President Obama could do on Kashmir is probably nothing. We have to hope that India and Pakistan can work out their differences on Kashmir on their own". The Boston Globe called the idea of appointing Bill Clinton as an envoy to Kashmir "a mistake". President Obama subsequently appointed Richard Holbrooke as special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan. President Asif Ali Zardari hoped that Holbrooke would help mediate to resolve the Kashmir issue. Kashmir was later removed from Holbrooke's mandate. "Eliminating ... Kashmir from his job description ... is seen as a significant diplomatic concession to India that reflects increasingly warm ties between the country and the United States," The Washington Post noted in a report. Brajesh Mishra, India's former national security adviser, was quoted in the same report as saying that "No matter what government is in place, India is not going to relinquish control of Jammu and Kashmir". "That is written in stone and cannot be changed." According to The Financial Times, India has warned Obama that he risks "barking up the wrong tree" if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over Kashmir.

In July 2009, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake, Jr. stated that the United States had no plans to appoint any special envoy to settle the dispute, calling it an issue which needed to be sorted out bilaterally by India and Pakistan. According to Dawn this will be interpreted in Pakistan as an endorsement of India's position on Kashmir that no outside power has any role in this dispute.

• In 2002, former US President, Bill Clinton described Kashmir as "the most dangerous place in the world." He averted a nuclear war between India and Pakistan over the issue of Kashmir according to former US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott. Talbott reveals in his book Engaging India: Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb that India and Pakistan came very close to a nuclear war in 1999. According to Talbott, before Clinton met with Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif in 1999 to discuss the issue, US national security adviser Sandy Berger told Clinton that he could be heading into "the single most important meeting with a foreign leader of his entire presidency".

India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and the two countries each hold significant numbers of nuclear warheads. India and Pakistan fought two wars over the issue of Kashmir in 1947 and 1965. These two neighbours came dangerously close to a third war during the Kargil conflict in 1999.

Problems Before Plebiscite

UN Resolution

• The United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 was passed by United Nations Security Council under chapter VI of UN Charter. Resolutions passed under Chapter VI of UN charter are considered non binding and have no mandatory enforceability as opposed to the resolutions passed under Chapter VII.
• On January 24, 1957 the UN Security Council reaffirmed the 1948 resolution.The Security Council, reaffirming its previous resolution to the effect, "that the final disposition of the state of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of United Nations," further declared that any action taken by the Constituent Assembly formed in Kashmir " would not constitute disposition of the state in accordance with the above principles."
• In March 2001, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan during his visit to India and Pakistan,remarked that Kashmir resolutions are only advisory recommendations and comparing with those on East Timor and Iraq was like comparing apples and oranges, since those resolutions were passed under chapter VII, which make it enforceable by UNSC. In 2003,then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf announced that Pakistan was willing to back off from demand for UN resolutions for Kashmir.
• Moreover, India alleges that Pakistan failed to fulfill the pre-conditions by withdrawing its troops from the Kashmir region as was required under the same U.N. resolution of 13 August 1948 which discussed the plebiscite.
• Jammu and Kashmir is out of UN dispute list: In Nov 2010 the United Nations has removed Jammu and Kashmir from its list of disputed territories.
• It was major setback to Pakistan’s efforts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, the United Nations has excluded Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) from its list of unresolved international disputes under the observation of the UN Security Council (UNSC). Pakistan's acting envoy in the UN, Amjad Hussain Sial, has lodged a strong protest, while Indian authorities welcomed the decision.
• In 2010, United States Ambassador to India, Timothy J. Roemer said that Kashmir is an 'internal' issue of India and not to be discussed on international level rather it should be solved by bilateral talks between India and Pakistan. He said, "The (US) President ( Barack Obama), I think was very articulate on this issue of Kashmir. This is an internal issue for India."
• Separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said that, "First of all when they say Kashmir is an internal issue, it is against the reality. The issue of Jammu and Kashmir is an international issue and it should be solved. As long as promises made to us are not fulfilled, this issue will remain unsolved."
• The UN later affirmed that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains on the United Nation Security Council’s agenda and denied claims that the UN had removed Kashmir from the list of unresolved issues.

Instrument of Accession

• The Instrument of Accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India was signed by Maharaja Hari Singh, erstwhile ruler, on 25 October 1947 and executed on 27 October 1947 between the ruler of Kashmir and the Governor-General of India. This was a legal act and completely valid in terms of the Government of India Act 1935, Indian Independence Act 1947 and under international law. Hence the accession of the Jammu and Kashmir state was total and irrevocable.
• The Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir had unanimously ratified the Instrument of Accession to India duly adopting a constitution for the state endorsing perpetual merger of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India. The Constituent assembly lawfully represented wish of Kashmiri people at that time.
• Moreover, Instrument of Accession is accepted by each elected legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. Despite boycott calls by separatist leaders, recent 2014 assembly elections recorded more than 65% voting percentage in Kashmir which is more than usual voting percentage in other states of India. Indian authorities claim that more than 65% voters of Kashmir have voted in favour of "Instrument of Accession" and Indian Democracy in 2014 elections.

Article 370

• Article 370 of the Indian constitution is a provision that grants special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. The article is drafted in Part XXI of the Constitution, which relates to Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions.
• Article 370 is the only link that connects Jammu and Kashmir to India.
• To implement a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir one has to amend or abolish the article 370, which is very complex procedure. The leaders of Kashmir oppose any such measure. Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Muhammad Sayeed said, "Even Indian Parliament does not have power to scrap Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Indian constitution."
• The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir has ruled that the Article 370 cannot be "abrogated, repealed or even amended." It explained that the clause (3) of the Article conferred power to the State's Constituent Assembly to recommend to the President on the matter of the repeal of the Article. Since the Constituent Assembly did not make such a recommendation before its dissolution in 1957, the Article 370 has taken on the features of a "permanent provision" despite being titled a temporary provision in the Constitution.
• Article 370 has emerged as the biggest obstacle in front of plebiscite because of its complex procedure of amendment and opposition from the leaders of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Nehru's Promise"

• After accession of Kashmir to India in October 1947 then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru made some statements in media and in various telegrams regarding plebiscite in Kashmir.

In telegram No.413 dated 28 October 1947 addressed to Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nehru wrote,

"That Government of India and Pakistan should make a joint request to U.N.O. to undertake a plebiscite in Kashmir at the earliest possible date."

Nehru's statement in the Indian Parliament, 26 June 1952,

"I want to stress that it is only the people of Kashmir who can decide the future of Kashmir. It is not that we have merely said that to the United Nations and to the people of Kashmir; it is our conviction and one that is borne out by the policy that we have pursued, not only in Kashmir but every where.

"I started with the presumption that it is for the people of Kashmir to decide their own future. We will not compel them. In that sense, the people of Kashmir are sovereign."

In his statement in the Lok Sabha on 31 March 1955 as published in Hindustan Times New Delhi on Ist April, 1955, Pandit Nehru said, "Kashmir is perhaps the most difficult of all these problems between India and Pakistan. We should also remember that Kashmir is not a thing to be bandied between India and Pakistan but it has a soul of its own and an individuality of its own. Nothing can be done without the goodwill and consent of the people of Kashmir." There was also a White Paper on Kashmir published by Indian government regarding plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir in 1948.

• There are many such instances where Nehru made such remarks regarding plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan and separatist Hurriyat leaders repeatedly demand that Indian Government should fulfill "Nehru's Promise".
• Position of the Indian authorities on "Nehru's Promise": the Indian government takes the position that Nehru himself backed off from his promise in the late 1950s. Although he was Prime Minister for 17 years, he made no serious attempt for a plebiscite. His promises have been taken as a 'good political move'.
• The reason for not holding plebiscite was given by India's Defense Minister, Kirshnan Menon, who said: "Kashmir would vote to join Pakistan and no Indian Government responsible for agreeing to plebiscite would survive.''
• Indian authorities say that Nehru's telegrams and speeches have no legal importance, nor it is compulsory to apply them as they were never passed by the Parliament of India. The white paper on Kashmir also does not have any legal importance as it was published in 1948 while the Constitution of India came into force into 1950 and defined Kashmir as an integral part of India as well as protecting the 'unity and integrity' of India. Constitution of India doesn't has any provision for plebiscite and 1948 white paper was against Constitution of India so it was automatically got abolished.
• Indian authorities also says that, Nehru is not current Prime Minister of India, because policies are made on the basis of views of current Prime Minister and his cabinet which must get nod by both houses of Parliament of India.
• Any Prime Minister of India can't make decision of plebiscite unilaterally, bill of plebiscite must be passed in both houses of Parliament of India with massive 2/3rd majority then it requires assent by President of India, and if that decision is against Basic structure of Indian Constitution then Supreme Court of India can outlaw or abolish that decision. Preamble and article 3 of part 2 of Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir says 'Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India'. This constitution has been adopted by elected Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in 1956 when Nehru was Prime Minister of India.
• Daughter of Nehru, Indira Gandhi and his grandson Rajiv Gandhi were Prime Ministers of India but they themself never did any attempt to implement their forefather's 'Promise'. Instead Indira Gandhi done 1974 Indira–Sheikh accord with Shaikh Abdullah which vanished all possibilities of plebiscite.

Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir

• Preamble of Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is as written in box.

"WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR,
having solemnly resolved, in pursuance of the accession of this State to India which took place on the twenty sixth day of October, 1947, to further define the existing relationship of the State with the Union of India as an integral part thereof, and to secure to ourselves-

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among us all;

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this seventeenth day of November, 1956, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION."

• Article 3 of part 2 of Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir also says that 'Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India'.
• Ram Jethmalani, prominent lawyer, former union minister and chairman of Kashmir Committee said in Nov 2014 that, "The constitution of this state(J & K) was not formulated by the constituent assembly of India, but by its constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. That was a plebiscite. It is the constituent assembly of J&K which incorporated some provisions of the Indian Constitution. The plebiscite has therefore taken place. You(Kashmiris) are not living under the constitution of India but under the constitution which was framed by the constituent assembly(of Jammu and Kashmir) which has willingly accepted a part of the Indian constitution."
• Indian authorities also claims that people of Kashmir have voted in large percentage in recent elections in favour of this constitution and each elected legislative assembly of J & K has accepted this constitution.

Outlook Survey

• In 1995 the first ever opinion poll was conducted in the Kashmir Valley by MODE which had been commissioned by Outlook.
• 72% of respondents favoured independence, 19% favoured Pakistan and only 7% favoured a solution within Indian sovereignty.
• 80% of respondents said that a free and fair election would definitely not help solve the Kashmir problem while only 4% said that a free and fair election could help resolve the Kashmir conflict.

Private Survey

• London based leading think tank Royal Institute of International Affairs also known as Chatham House, conducted a survey both in Pakistan administered Kashmir and Indian administered Kashimir and released it in its report Kashmir:Paths to Peace on May 2010.
• It found that 50% of people in Pakistan's side of Kashmir favoured the accession of the entire state to Pakistan, 44% of people favoured independence, 1% wanted the accession of the entire state to accede to India while 1% favoured the status quo.
• In the Indian side of Kashmir, 28% of people expressed a desire for the entire state to accede to India, 19% favoured the status quo, 43% wanted independence while 2% said they wanted the entire state to join Pakistan.
• The survey showed that only 2% of the respondents on the Indian side favoured joining Pakistan and most such views were confined to Srinagar and Budgam districts. In six of the districts surveyed late last year by researchers, not a single person favoured annexation with Pakistan, a notion that remains the bedrock for the hardline separatist campaign in Kashmir.
• The survey also showed that only 1% of the respondents on the Pakistani side favoured joining India. In four of the seven surveyed districts of Pakistani Kashmir, the option of merging with India found no support while this option had a support rate of only 1-3% in the remaining three districts.
• However views are highly poralised in each region. The main area of unrest has always been the predominantly Muslim majority Kashmir Valley, where the support level for Independence varies between 74% to 95% as found by the survey while support for accession with India varies between 2% to 22%. However, Hindu majority Jammu and Buddhist majority Ladakh express high levels of satisfaction with Indian rule.
• This 2010 survey too demonstrated that trend, with more than half the respondents on Indian side saying the elections had improved chances for peace(later in 2014, Jammu and Kashmir elections recorded highest percentage of voters turnout).
• Survey said that, "These results support the already widespread view that the plebiscite options are likely to offer no solution to the dispute."
• "The results aren't surprising at all. I feel they re-emphasize the need to look beyond traditional positions and evaluate the contours of a solution grounded in today's realities," said Sajjad Lone on this survey, a former ally of the Hurriyat who unsuccessfully contested the 2009 Indian general elections but won in 2014 Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.

See also

• History of Jammu and Kashmir
• United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan
• Indian Armed Forces and the Jammu and Kashmir Floods, 2014
• All Parties Hurriyat Conference
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
• Pakistan and state sponsored terrorism
• India–Pakistan relations
• Indo-Pakistani Wars
• Animated PNG of disputed regions

Notes

1. Panigrahi (2009, p. 54) "According to Mir Qasim, Nehru was unwilling to send Indian army. He was insistent that the Government could not send its forces at the request of the Maharaja "although he wanted to accede to India", unless the accession was endorsed by the people of Kashmir... Sheikh Abduallah who was listening to the debate from an anteroom scribbled a note for Nehru requesting him to send the army to save Kashmir from the invaders.
2. Snedden (2013, pp. 46–47): "n 28 October , The Times, while referring to the anti-Indian `raiding forces', was still able to identify four elements among the 3,000 or so `Muslim rebels and tribesmen' in J&K: 1) `Muslim League agents and agitators from Pakistan'; 2) `villagers who have raised the Pakistan flag and attacked Kashmir officials'; 3) `Pathan tribesmen'; 4) `Muslim deserters from Kashmir State forces who have taken their arms with them'."
3. Snedden (2013, p. 68): Nehru informed that `the actual tribesmen among the raiders are probably limited in numbers, the rest are ex-servicemen '.
4. ^ Sayyid Mīr Qāsim. My Life and Times. Allied Publishers Limited. Retrieved 1 July 2010. On the battlefield, the National Conference volunteers were working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Indian army to drive out the invaders. On 31 December 1947, India filed a complaint with the United Nations against the Pakistani aggression and its help to the invading tribesmen. Sheikh Abdullah was not in favor of India seeking the UN intervention because he was sure the Indian army could free the entire State of the invaders. The UNO did not resolve the Kashmir issue. It called for withdrawal of troops on 21 April 1948. The Indian army had driven the Pakistanis up to Uri in Kashmir and Poonch in Jammu when ceasefire was ordered in December 1948. Mr. Jinnah, the promoter of this invasion, had died in September of that year. Both India and Pakistan accepted the ceasefire.
5. Korbel (1953, p. 502): "Though India accepted the resolution, Pakistan attached to its acceptance so many reservations, qualifications and assumptions as to make its answer `tantamount to rejection'.
6. Korbel (1953, pp. 506–507): "When a further Security Council resolution urged the governments of India and Pakistan to agree within thirty days on the demilitarization of Kashmir, on the basis of Dr. Graham's recommendation, Pakistan once more accepted and India once more refused....Dr. Graham met the Indian request for retaining in Kashmir 21,000 men, but continued to propose 6,000 soldiers on the Azad side. Pakistan could not accept the first provision and India continued to insist on its stand concerning the Azad forces. The meeting, which ended in failure, was accompanied by bitter comments in the newspapers of both India and Pakistan about United Nations intervention in the Kashmir dispute."
7. • Korbel (1953, p. 507): "With the hindsight of six years, the Council's approach, though impartial and fair, appears to have been inadequate in that it did not reflect the gravity of the Kashmir situation.... The Security Council did not deal with either of these arguments . Nor did it consider the possibility of asking the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on the juridical aspect of the conflict under Article 96 of the Charter. Nor did it invoke any provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter, which deals with `acts of aggression'."
   • Subbiah (2004, p. 180): "From the beginning, the Security Council framed the problem as primarily a political dispute rather than looking to a major legal underpinning of the dispute: the Instrument of Accession's validity or lack thereof."
8. • Ankit (2013, p. 276): To Cadogan , irrespective of “whether forces in question are organised or disorganised or whether they are controlled by, or enjoy the convenience of, Government of Pakistan,” India was entitled to take measures for self-defence: repelling invaders, pursuing invaders into Pakistan under Article 51 of the UN Charter and charging Pakistan as aggressor under Article 35.
   • Ankit (2013, p. 279): Mountbatten, too, pleaded directly with Attlee along political as well as personal lines: "I am convinced that this attitude of the United States and the United Kingdom is completely wrong and will have far reaching results. Any prestige I may previously have had with my Government has of course been largely lost by my having insisted that they should make a reference to the United Nations with the assurance that they would get a square deal there."
9. Varshney 1992, p. 216: Independent observers could get no evidence of it. The New York Tiems found that "most of the prisoners captured thus far do not speak the Kashmiri dialect. They speak... Punjabi and other dialects."... The Washington Post remarked: "The Moslem Pakistanis, led by President Ayub, had expected the infiltrators to be able to produce a general uprising and this is Ayub's first disappointment."... Once again, it seemed clear that whatever the state of their relationship with India, Kashmiris did not wish to embrace Pakistan.

References

1. Ganguly, Sumit; Paul Kapur (7 August 2012). India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia. Columbia University Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-0231143752.
2. "Q&A: Kashmir dispute". BBC News. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
3. Choudhury, Salah Uddin Shoaib (8 October 2010). "Pakistani rogue policy on Kashmir". Sri Lanka Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
4. Durrani, Atiq (4 February 2013). "PAK-INDIA Dialogue: Single-Point-Agenda: KASHMIR". PKKH. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
5. "Controversies surrounding Republic Day celebrations in South Tibet solved". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
6. ^ Uppsala Conflict Data Program Conflict Encyclopedia, Conflict Summary, Conflict name: India: Kashmir, "Roots of Conflict and the emergence of Kashmir Insurgents, viewed 2013-05-29, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=74&regionSelect=6-Central_and_Southern_Asia#
7. "Elections in Kashmir". Kashmirlibrary.org. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
8. "India Pakistan | Timeline". BBC News. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
9. "Kashmir: A History Littered With Rigged Elections (by Mushtaq A. Jeelani) – Media Monitors Network". Mediamonitors.net. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
10. Hussain, Altaf (14 September 2002). "South Asia | Kashmir's flawed elections". BBC News. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
11. Constable, Pamela (9 June 2002). "A Good Voice Silenced: Kashmir's Loss Is Also Mine". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
12. ^ Emily Wax (28 August 2008). "Peaceful Protests in Kashmir Alter Equation for India". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
13. ^ Trofimov, Yaroslav (15 December 2008). "A New Tack in Kashmir". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
14. "Freedom in the World 2009 – Kashmir (India)". UNHCR. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
15. "Pro-India parties win majority in Kashmir elections". CNN. 28 December 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
16. "Regional Party Enters Talks for Coalition Government in Jammu and Kashmir". Voice of America. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
17. "2010 Kashmir Unrest - A recollection of what happened - The Vox Kashmir". The Vox Kashmir. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
18. Jason Burke. "Kashmir unrest continues as more protesters die". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
19. "U.N. concerned over Kashmir unrest". Reuters. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
20. "J & K records historic polling percentage: EC". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 20 December 2014.
21. ^ "Jammu and Kashmir registers highest voter turnout in 25 years, Jharkhand breaks records". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
22. ^ "J&K polls: 76 per cent voter turnout recorded in the final phase". IBNLive. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
23. ^ "Jammu and Kashmir Registers Highest Voter Turnout in 25 Years, Jharkhand Breaks Records". NDTV.com. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
24. Mir, Suhail Qasim (4 December 2014). "Kashmir: Higher Voter Turnout, What Does It Speak of ?". Retrieved 9 February 2016.
25. Dhillon, Amrit (5 January 2009). "Kashmir's new-found pragmatism". Retrieved 9 February 2016.
26. Bradnock, Robert W. (May 2010). "Kashmir: Path to Peace" (PDF). Chatham House: 15.
27. Lawson, Alistair (27 May 2010). "'First' Kashmir survey produces 'startling' results". Retrieved 9 February 2016.
28. "India: "Denied": Failures in accountability for human rights violations by security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir". Amnesty International. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
29. PTI (11 October 2015). "Article 370, granting special status to the state, is permanent: Jammu and Kashmir High Court - The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
30. "Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) ''Kashmir''". 1911encyclopedia.org. 5 January 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
31. E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume 4, Kashmir
32. Sumantra Bose 2003, pp. 27–28.
33. Mridu Rai 2004.
34. "Indian Independence Act 1947". UK Legislation. The National Archives. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
35. Copland, Ian (February 1991), "The Princely States, the Muslim League, and the Partition of India in 1947", The International History Review, 13 (1): 38–69, JSTOR 40106322
36. Chattha 2009, pp. 179–180.
37. Noorani, A.G. (25 February 2012). "Horrors of Partition". Frontline issue =04. Vol. 29. {{cite news}}: Missing pipe in: |newspaper= (help)
38. Snedden 2013, pp. 48–54.
39. Snedden 2013, p. 45.
40. "Rediff on the NeT: An interview with Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw". Rediff.com. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
41. "Q&A: Kashmir dispute - BBC News". Bbc.com. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
42. Panigrahi 2009, p. 54.
43. Schofield 2003, pp. 65–67.
44. Fair 2011, pp. 107–108.
45. Noorani 2014, pp. 13–14.
46. Schofield 2003, pp. 67–68.
47. Schofield 2003, pp. 68–69.
48. "Plebiscite Conundrum". Kashmirlibrary.org. 5 January 1949. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
49. Schofield 2003, p. 70.
50. Varshney 1992, p. 211.
51. Schofield 2003, pp. 70–71.
52. Schofield 2003, pp. 71–72.
53. Schofield 2003, pp. 82–85.
54. Varshney 1992, p. 212.
55. Nick Easen CNN (24 May 2002). "CNN.com – Aksai Chin: China's disputed slice of Kashmir – 24 May 2002". CNN. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
56. Fair 2011, pp. 109–111.
57. Faruqui, Ahmad. "Remembering 6th of September 1965". Pakistan Link. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
58. Paul 1994, p. 107.
59. Paul 1994, pp. 115–116.
60. Mankekar, D. R. (1967). Twentytwo fateful days: Pakistan cut to size. Manaktalas. pp. 62–63, 67. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
61. ^ Ahmad, Wajahat (2 August 2011). "Repression and resistance in Kashmir". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
62. Prakash, Shri. Twenty Tumultuous Years. Gyan Publishing House. p. 533. ISBN 978-81-212-0804-8.
63. Hussain, Altaf (14 September 2002). "Kashmir's flawed elections".
64. India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy, Ramachandra Guha, Pan Macmillan, 2008, p. 654
65. "1989 Insurgency". Kashmirlibrary.org. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
66. Contours of Militancy
67. "Timeline of the conflict". BBC News. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
68. "BBC NEWS - India Pakistan - Timeline". BBC News. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
69. PMO in secret talks with secessionists, The Hindu, 25 January 2006
70. Malik Under Fire, Rebels Call For 'less Autocratic' JKLF, The Indian Express, 23 December 2005
71. Huey, Caitlin (28 March 2011). "Amnesty International Cites Human Rights Abuse in Kashmir". Usnews.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
72. ^ "Kashmir graves: Human Rights Watch calls for inquiry". BBC News. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
73. "Asia Pacific Human Rights by region". Amnesty International. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
74. Kashmir insurgency is being 'Talibanised'Jane's Information Group, 5 October 2001 Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine
75. Foreign militants creating mayhem in Kashmir: Omar Abdullah , The Hindu, 12 March 2006
76. "FBI has images of terror camp in Pak". The Tribune. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
77. "Zardari expects world to come up with $100bn". Dawn. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
78. "Fury over Zardari Kashmir comment". BBC News. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
79. ^ "OHCHR calls for restraint in Indian-administered Kashmir". 27 August 2008. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
80. Ali, Tariq. "Bitter Chill of Winter". London Review of Books=. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
81. Colonel Ravi Nanda (1999). Kargil: A Wake Up Call. Vedams Books. ISBN 81-7095-074-0. Online summary of the Book
82. Osama bin Laden "letter to the American people", GlobalSecurity.org, 20 November 2002
83. Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America', The Guardian, 24 November 2002
84. Analysis: Is al-Qaeda in Kashmir?, BBC, 13 June 2002
85. Rumsfeld offers US technology to guard Kashmir border, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 June 2002
86. Al Qaeda thriving in Pakistani Kashmir, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 July 2002
87. SAS joins Kashmir hunt for bin Laden, The Daily Telegraph, 23 February 2002
88. Taliban, al-Qaeda linked to Kashmir, USA Today, 29 May 2002
89. Kashmir Militant Extremists, Council on Foreign Relations, 9 July 2009
90. Al-Qaeda claim of Kashmir link worries India, The New York Times, 13 July 2006
91. "No Al Qaeda presence in Kashmir: Army". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 June 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
92. Al Qaeda could provoke new India-Pakistan war: Gates, Dawn, 20 January 2010 Archived 2010-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
93. US drones killed two terrorist leaders in Pak, Dawn, 17 September 2009 Archived 2009-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
94. Chicago Man Pleads Not Guilty in Terror Cases, The New York Times, 25 January 2010
95. Al Qaeda's American Mole, Brookings Institution, 15 December 2009
96. Ilyas Kashmiri alive, lays out future terror strategy, Daily Times (Pakistan), 15 October 2009
97. "Ilyas Kashmiri had planned to attack COAS". The News. 18 September 2009. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
98. US charges Ilyas Kashmiri in Danish newspaper plot, Dawn, 15 January 2010 Archived 2010-01-19 at the Wayback Machine
99. "Farman Shinwari: New Al Qaeda leader, Kashmir jihad expert". Rediff.com. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
100. ^ Hardgrave, Robert. "India: The Dilemmas of Diversity", Journal of Democracy, pp. 54–65
101. Rogers, Simon (28 January 2011). "Muslim populations by country: how big will each Muslim population be by 2030?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
102. "Census Reference Tables, C-Series Population by religious communities". Censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
103. "BJP questions PM's Kashmir autonomy remark". The Times of India. 11 August 2010.
104. ^ "Ministry of External Affairs, India – Kashmir Issue". Meaindia.nic.in. Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
105. ^ "Kashmir: The true story, Ministry of External Affairs, India" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
106. "Excerpted from Kashmir 1947, Rival Versions of History, by Prem Shankar Jha, Oxford University Press, 1996 – An interview of Sam Manekshaw, the first field marshal in the Indian army, then chosen to accompany V P Menon on his historic mission to Kashmir". Retrieved 19 May 2010.
107. ^ "From A.S. Anand, former Chief Justice of India in his book 'The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir – Its Development and Comments'".
108. "The Kashmir Story, M. L. Kotru". Kashmir Information Network. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
109. Territorial Disputes and Conflict Management: The Art of Avoiding War By Rongxing Guo page 68
110. "Full Text of Resolution 1172" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
111. 24 September 2001 (24 September 2001). "A brief history of Kashmir conflict". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 February 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
112. "Indian Embassy, Washington, D.C. – A Comprehensive note on Jammu & Kashmir". Indianembassy.org. Archived from the original on 17 November 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
113. "Foreign Minister of Pakistan, on the role of the Security Council in the Pacific Settlement of Disputes". Pakun.org. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
114. Ahmad, Shamshad (5 August 2004). "Kashmir policy: an overview". Dawn. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
115. M.J. Akbar Monday (30 September 2002). "Exerting Moral Force". Time. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
116. "Ministry of External Affairs, India – Simla Agreement". Meaindia.nic.in. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
117. "Pakistan, India meet on Kashmir". CNN. 18 April 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
118. World: South Asia Vajpayee: Pakistan a 'terrorist' state, BBC, 9 August 1999
119. "India Renews Call for U.S. to Declare Pakistan a Terrorist State", The New York Times, 17 July 2002
120. COMMENTARY: Qualifying as a terrorist state, Asia Times Online, 5 February 2002
121. "Congress wants Pakistan declared terror state". Dawn. 8 February 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
122. ^ "Pakistan'S Anti-India Propaganda". Indianembassy.org. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
123. "Pak media being anti-India: J&K CM". The Indian Express. 13 April 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
124. STATEMENT BY MR. V.K. NAMBIAR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE, ON THREATS OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY CAUSED BY TERRORIST ACTS AT THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON MARCH 4, 2004, United Nations, 4 March 2004 Archived 2009-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
125. UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001), United States Department of State Archived 2009-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
126. STATEMENT BY MR. KAMALESH SHARMA, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE ON THREATS TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY CAUSED BY TERRORIST ACTS IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON JANUARY 18, 2002, United Nations 18 January 2002 Archived 2009-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
127. "No freedom in PoK: Human Rights Watch". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 September 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
128. "A Comprehensive Note on Jammu & Kashmir THE NORTHERN AREAS". Indianembassy.org. Archived from the original on 27 November 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
129. "Karan echoes Omar, but 'J&K part of India'". The Indian Express. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
130. "India revises Kashmir death toll to 47,000". Hindustan Times. Reuters. 21 November 2008. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
131. Jinnah and Kashmir, Government of Azad Kashmir
132. "Azad Kashmir Regiment". Pakistanarmy.gov.pk. 15 August 1947. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
133. "Kashmir: The origins of the dispute, Victoria Schofield". BBC News. 16 January 2002. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
134. "Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Mofa.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
135. "Cry and Anguish for Freedom in Kashmir (by Anver Suliman) – Media Monitors Network". Mediamonitors.net. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
136. "Conflict Rape Victims: Abandoned And Forgotten By Syed Junaid Hashmi". Countercurrents.org. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
137. "Human Rights Watch World Report 2001: India: Human Rights Developments". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
138. Kashmiris want accession to Pakistan: Attique Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
139. Schofield, Victoria (17 January 2002). "South Asia | Kashmir's forgotten plebiscite". BBC News. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
140. ^ Endrst, Jeff (September 8, 1965). "Kashmir Old Headache For U.N". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 8/02/2016.
141. Srinagar www.collectbritain.co.uk.
142. "South Asia | Kashmir's extra-judicial killings". BBC News. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
143. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (31 January 2007). "India: Prosecute Police for Killings in Jammu and Kashmir". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
144. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. (9 February 2009). "India: Hold Abusers in Kashmir Accountable". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
145. "Kashmir's extra-judicial killings". BBC News. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
146. Somini Sengupta (6 February 2007). "Indian Army and Police Tied to Kashmir Killings". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
147. "The Future of Kasmir? Scenario seven: The Chenab formula". BBC News. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
148. ^ "Pakistan needs to incite those fighting in Kashmir: Musharraf". The Express Tribune. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
149. ^ "Pakistan needs to 'incite' those 'fighting' in Kashmir: Musharraf". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
150. ^ "Pak wishes to have 3rd party mediation on Kashmir: Aziz". Kashmir Times. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
151. "Just 2% of people in J&K want to join Pak: Survey". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
152. "Kashmir (region, Indian subcontinent) :: The Kashmir problem". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
153. "Factbox: all about India, China's border dispute". IBN Live. 8 November 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
154. "Leading News Resource of Pakistan". Daily Times. 23 November 2004. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
155. "Pakistan wants to curb terrorism: Straw's assurance to Jaswant". Dawn. 30 May 2002. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
156. Ayesha Siddiqi. "Kashmir and the politics of water – Kashmir: The forgotten conflict". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
157. ^ "SPIEGEL Interview with Pervez Musharraf: 'Pakistan is Always Seen as the Rogue' – SPIEGEL ONLINE". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
158. "Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Singh in Joint Press Conference in New Delhi, India | The White House". White House. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
159. Nelson, Dean (8 July 2009). "Pakistani president Asif Zardari admits creating terrorist groups". The Daily Telegraph. London.
160. "Links between ISI, militant groups: Straw". Rediff.com. 11 June 2002. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
161. Shoaib, Syed (3 March 2010). "Why Pakistan is 'boosting Kashmir militants'". BBC News. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
162. Pakistan Reportedly Aiding Kashmir Rebels – Despite Assurances To U.S., Military Fueling India Conflict. The Washington Post.
163. John Pike. "Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI] – Pakistan Intelligence Agencies". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
164. "The Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate's Sponsorship of Terrorism" (PDF). Retrieved 6 January 2013.
165. ^ Camp, Dick (2011). Boots on the Ground: The Fight to Liberate Afghanistan from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, 2001–2002. Zenith. p. 38. ISBN 978-0760341117.
166. Caldwell, Dan; Robert Williams (2011). Seeking Security in an Insecure World (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-1442208032.
167. ^ Pike, John (25 July 2002). "Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence". Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 25 June 2012. Archived 2006-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
168. Does Obama understand his biggest foreign-policy challenge?, Salon, 12 December 2008 Archived 2009-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
169. ^ Pakistani Militants Admit Role in Siege, Official Says, The New York Times, 1 January 2009
170. Ashley J. Tellis (11 March 2010). "Bad Company – Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and the Growing Ambition of Islamist Militancy in Pakistan" (PDF). Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
171. "BBC News – Musharraf admits Kashmir militants trained in Pakistan". BBC. 5 October 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
172. ^ W. Bradnock, Robert (May 2010). "Kashmir:Paths to Peace" (PDF). Chatham House: 7.
173. ^ W.Bradnock, Robert (May 2010). "Kashmir:Paths to Peace" (PDF). Chatham House: 17.
174. ^ Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (13 September 2006). "India: Impunity Fuels Conflict in Jammu and Kashmir". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
175. "State data refutes claim of 1 lakh killed in Kashmir". The Times of India. 20 June 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
176. "Behind Kashmir Conflict". hrw.org. Human Rights Watch. 1 July 1999. Retrieved 28 April 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
177. "Everyone Lives in Fear". hrw.org. Human Rights Watch. 12 September 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
178. "CONTINUING REPRESSION IN KASHMIR – Abuses Rise as International Pressure on India Eases" (PDF) (Press release). August 1994. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
179. ^ "Document – India: Torture continues in Jammu and Kashmir". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
180. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1 January 1996). "Refworld | Amnesty International Report 1996 – India". UNHCR. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
181. "The Kashmir tinderbox". Human Rights Watch. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
182. "Behind the Kashmir Conflict – Abuses in the Kashmir Valley (Human Rights Watch Report, July 1999)". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
183. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. (9 February 2009). "India: Hold Abusers in Kashmir Accountable". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
184. "India". State.gov. 6 March 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
185. "India must investigate unidentified graves – Amnesty International Australia". Amnesty.org.au. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
186. "Thousands lost in Kashmir mass graves". Amnesty International. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
187. Cathy Scott-Clark (9 July 2012). "The mass graves of Kashmir | World news". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
188. Asia and the Pacific. "Amnesty International | Working to Protect Human Rights". Amnesty International. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
189. GreaterKashmir.com (Greater Service) (16 October 2012). "ARMY CHALLENGES SHRC JURISDICTION Lastupdate:- Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:30:00 GMT". Greaterkashmir.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
190. Jason Burke in Delhi (16 December 2010). "WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir | World news". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
191. Allen, Nick (17 December 2010). "WikiLeaks: India 'systematically torturing civilians in Kashmir'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
192. GreaterKashmir.com (Greater Service) (10 September 2012). "Wajahat expresses displeasure Lastupdate:- Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT". Greaterkashmir.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
193. "Bijbehara massacre: Guilty yet to be punished even after 19 years". Kashmir Times. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
194. Rape in Kashmir – A Crime of War by Asia Watch, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights
195. "A documentary movie on Kashmir lands in controversy". english.samaylive.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
196. Billal A. Jan (Director) (2012). Ocean of Tears (Excerpt) (Youtube). Jammu and Kashmir: PSBTIndia.
197. India, Express. "Pathribal encounter 'cold blooded murder', CBI tells SC". Retrieved 20 March 2012.
198. India, Express. "Pathribal encounter "cold blooded murders," CBI tells SC". Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
199. Hindu, The (20 March 2012). "Pathribal encounter is cold-blooded murder, CBI tells court". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Press Trust of India. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
200. ^ "Pathribal case: Army decides to try 5 accused officers in GCM". Zeenews. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
201. "Why Kashmiris want the hated AFSPA to go". Daily News & Analysis. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
202. "Fake encounter at LoC: 3 arrested, probe ordered". 29 May 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
203. ^ Paradise lost. BBC News.
204. Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the Republic of India and the State Government of Jammu and Kashmir should take immediate steps to remedy the situation of the Kashmiri Pandits and should act to ensure the physical, political, and economic security of this embattled community. HR Resolution 344, United States House of Representatives, 15 February 2006
205. "PALLONE INTRODUCEs resolution CONDEMnING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST KASHMIRI PANDITS". U.S. House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
206. ^ "Human Rights Issues by Country – Currently viewing issues for India". Hindu American Foundation. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
207. "23 years on, Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own nation". Rediff News. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
208. "Kamal blames army, central agencies for Pandit migration".
209. "Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989"". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 March 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
210. "219 Pandits Killed in J&K Since 1989". news.outlookindia.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
211. Azad Essa. "Kashmiri Pandits: Why we never fled Kashmir – Kashmir: The forgotten conflict". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
212. GreaterKashmir.com (Greater Service) (20 June 2011). "399 Pandits killed since 1990 KPSS Lastupdate:- Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT". Greaterkashmir.com. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
213. "CIA – The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
214. Ka Leo The Voice – Kashmir: The Predicament
215. ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2 July 2008). "Refworld | Freedom in the World 2008 – Kashmir [Pakistan]". UNHCR. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
216. "Médecins Sans Frontières – Kashmir: Violence and Health" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
217. Wailing Woes Archived 2009-11-08 at the Wayback Machine
218. ^ "Thousands lost in Kashmir mass graves". Amnesty International. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
219. ^ "Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Undermining the Judiciary (Human Rights Watch Report: July 1999)". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
220. ^ "Behind the Kashmir Conflict – Abuses in the Kashmir Valley". Human Rights Watch. 20 April 1998. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
221. ^ Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
222. Archived 2008-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
223. "Blood Tide Rising". Time. 18 January 1993. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
224. "India". State.gov. 6 March 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
225. "World | Kashmir's extra-judicial killings". BBC News. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
226. "India: The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act- a threat to human rights". Amnesty International. 15 May 2000. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
227. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld | Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (Act No. 6 of 1978)". UNHCR. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
228. ^ "India: Repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act". Human Rights Watch. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
229. "Amnesty International criticises 'tough' Kashmir law". BBC News. 21 March 2011.
230. ^ Freedom in the World 2008 – Kashmir (Pakistan), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2 July 2008
231. Human Rights Watch: "With Friends Like These..." (PDF). Human Rights Watch. p. 51.
232. EU Report Rattles Pakistan, Outlook, 8 December 2006
233. European Parliamentarians express concern for Gilgit-Baltistan, German Information Center, New Delhi, 12 April 2008
234. "Sham Elections in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir – Analysis". Eurasia review. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
235. "Chapter 5: Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, Tashkent & The Shimla Agreement". Kashmir story. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
236. ^ Nadeem (21 September 2009). "Gilgit-Baltistan: A question of autonomy". Retrieved 6 January 2013.
237. ^ Shigri, Manzar (12 November 2009). "Pakistan's disputed Northern Areas go to polls". Reuters. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
238. ^ "DAWN: Gilgit-Baltistan autonomy". Dawn. Pakistan. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
239. Political unrest in Gilgit-Baltistan, Dawn, 26 July 2009 Archived 2009-07-31 at the Wayback Machine
240. ^ European MPs concerned at rights violations in Pakistani Kashmir, Thaindian News, 13 April 2008
241. European Parliament concerned on Gilgit-Baltistan, The Indian Express, 20 December 2009
242. Gilgit-Baltistan package termed an eyewash, Dawn, 30 August 2009 Archived 2012-06-01 at the Wayback Machine
243. Discontents in Gilgit-Baltistan, Daily Times (Pakistan), 21 April 2010 Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
244. Shigri, Manzar (12 November 2009). "Pakistan's disputed Northern Areas go to polls". Reuters. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
245. Killing of youth in GB by-polls condemned, Dawn, 27 December 2009 Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
246. The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1961, Vakilno1.com Archived 2011-11-15 at the Wayback Machine
247. "Microsoft's Geopolitical Bug Experts: The company's Geopolitical Product Strategy Team helps Microsoft understand and address worldwide geographical, political and cultural issues that affect its products". Microsoft.com. 6 December 2000. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
248. "Jammu and Kashmir out of U.N. list of disputes". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
249. "Jammu and Kashmir removed from list of 'disputes' under UN". NDTV.com. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
250. Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy after the Bush Visit to South Asia Strategic Insights Volume V, Issue 4 (April 2006) by Peter R. Lavoy Archived 2006-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
251. Kickstart Kashmir – The Times of India.
252. EU: Plebiscite not in Kashmiris' interest – 30 November 2006, Pak Observer Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
253. REPORT on Kashmir: present situation and future prospects Committee on Foreign Affairs Rapporteur: Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
254. Plebiscite no longer an option; Kashmir row must be resolved within two years' — — Hurriyat Conference Chairman, Mr Abdul Gani Bhat, The Hindu, 1 July 2003
255. "Paying ministers nothing new in J&K, former Army chief Gen VK Singh". indiatimes.com. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
256. "JK ministers on Army payroll: Gen Singh". greaterkashmir.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
257. Pakistan's Role in the Kashmir Insurgency by Peter Chalk, RAND,2001-09-01
258. Why Pakistan is 'boosting Kashmir militants', BBC, 3 March 2010
259. "Kashmir militants 'regrouping' in Pakistan". BBC. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
260. Swami, Praveen (20 July 2011). "ISI paid millions to influence U.S. on Kashmir". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
261. Archived 2011-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
262. The Milli Gazette, OPI, Pharos Media. "Full Text of the MORI Survey on Kashmir". Milligazette.com. Retrieved 2 February 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
263. "87 pct in Kashmir Valley Want Independence". Reuters. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
264. "Kashmir: Paths to Peace: 6: Options for the political future" (PDF). Chatham House. p. 15. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
265. The Indus Equation Report, Strategic Foresight Group
266. "South Asia | Musharraf pushes Kashmir proposal". BBC News. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
267. "Musharraf's Bold Initiative on Kashmir". Arabnews.com. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
268. From journalist Mukhtar Ahmad (23 March 2008). "Five dead after Kashmir gun battle". CNN. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
269. Archived 2008-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
270. "Level of violence in Kashmir dips". The Washington Times. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
271. "South Asia | Kashmir – missed chances for peace". BBC News. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
272. "India to develop Waqf properties for Muslim welfare". dna. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
273. "Wakf Board to get 123 plots in capital's prime locations". The Indian Express. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
274. "BBC World Service – News – Non-violent protest in Kashmir". BBC. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
275. "South Asia | Top Kashmir separatists detained". BBC News. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
276. "After Uprising, 300 Protestors Arrested in Indian Kashmir". Newsblaze.com. 6 September 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
277. Thottam, Jyoti (4 September 2008). "Valley of Tears". Time. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
278. "Mirwaiz warns of violent upsurge". Dawn. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
279. "Stones And Psyches". Kashmirobserver.net. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
280. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Jammu & Kashmir". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
281. Avijit Ghosh (17 August 2008). "In Kashmir, there's azadi in air". Online edition of The Times of India, dated 17 August 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
282. Thottam, Jyoti (4 September 2008). "Valley of Tears". Time. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
283. "Big Turnout, Amid Protests, in Kashmir Vote". TIME.com. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
284. "Kashmiris vote despite boycott call". English.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
285. Whitehead, Andrew (1 January 2009). "Kashmir crisis comes full circle". BBC News. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
286. Pro-India parties to take power in Indian Kashmir, International Herald Tribune, 30 December 2008 Archived 2012-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
287. Omar Abdullah sworn in, Tara Chand to be deputy CM, Rediff.com, 5 January 2009
288. 800 ultras active in state: Omar, The Tribune, 2 March 2009 Archived 2009-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
289. The changing character of the Kashmir movement, Al Jazeera 20 July 2010
290. Duff, Gordon. "Hurriyat (G) Launches 'Quit Kashmir' Stir With Hartal". Kashmirobserver.net. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
291. Yardley, Jim; Kumar, Hari (11 September 2010). "Buildings Are Set Ablaze During Protests in Kashmir". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
292. Pohlgren, Lydia (4 August 2010). "Kashmiris Storm the Street, Defying Curfew". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
293. "India to free protesters in Kashmir peace move". Reuters. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
294. "Syed Ali Shah Geelani's J&K election boycott call resonates in his hometown Sopore". IBNLive. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
295. turnout in J&K from November 17, Rediff India, 2008-10-19, accessed on 2008-12-30
296. J&K assembly polls: Voters defy separatists' election boycott call, 71.28% turnout in first phase, Rediff India, 2008-12-24
297. "71% voting recorded in 2nd phase of Jammu & Kashmir poll". The Times Of India. 2 December 2014.
298. "Polls in the Shadow of Terror: 58% People Vote in Jammu and Kashmir". NDTV. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
299. "Braving bullets 58% cast ballot in Jammu and Kashmir, 61% voting in Jharkhand in third phase of elections". dna India. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
300. ^ The Office of MEP Kosma Zlotowski (10 December 2014). "The European Parliament Welcomes the Elections in Jammu & Kashmir". PR Newswire. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
301. ^ ANI (11 December 2014). "European Parliament welcomes elections in Jammu and Kashmir". Business Standard. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
302. "EU hails huge turnout in J&K". Jammu Kashmir Latest News - Tourism - Breaking News J&K. Daily Excelsior. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
303. "India and Pakistan exchange fire in Kashmir border clashes". The Guardian (UK). 8 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
304. The full Obama Interview, Time
305. "SELIG S. HARRISON, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy". Ciponline.org. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
306. Kashmir issue leading Obama into first 'tar pit', The Washington Times, 6 January 2009
307. Asia's Islamism engine, The Australian, 4 December 2008
308. What Should Obama Do On Kashmir, Forbes, 1 December 2008
309. A wrong role for Bill Clinton, Boston Globe, 28 December 2008
310. "Holbrooke Plans First Trip as Afghanistan-Pakistan Envoy". Voice of America. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
311. Partnering With Pakistan, The Washington Post, 28 January 2009
312. Will Kashmir Be an Obama Foreign Policy Focus?, Time 28 January 2009
313. "Kashmir taken out of Holbrooke's brief, says report". Dawn. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
314. "U.S. Removes Kashmir From Envoy's Mandate; India Exults", The Washington Post, 30 January 2009
315. "India warns Obama over Kashmir", Financial Times, 3 February 2009
316. "US welcomes Indo-Pak talks". The News. 16 July 2009. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
317. US to sign 0 billion defence accords with India, Dawn, 17 July 2009 Archived 2009-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
318. Mishra, Pankaj (4 March 2010). "Kashmir: "The World's Most Dangerous Place"". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
319. Talbott, Strobe (2004). Engaging India: Diplomacy, Democracy, and the Bomb. Brookings Institution Press. p. 161. ISBN 0-8157-8300-0.
320. Talbott (2004), p. 162
321. "Nuclear weapons: Who has what". CNN. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
322. "Musharraf moved nuclear weapons in Kargil war". The Nation. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
323. One of the earliest applications of Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter was on the Kashmir dispute. Following negotiations and agreements among the parties, the Security Council adopted resolution 47 (1948) of 21 April 1948 which promised a free and fair plebiscite under UN auspices to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine whether they wish to join Pakistan or India. Foreign Minister of Pakistan, on the role of the Security Council in the Pacific Settlement of Disputes
324. Korbel (1953, p. 507): "In attempting to establish these responsibilities, one must not, first of all, lose sight of the fact that the Security Council's intervention was limited to mediation. The nature of mediation inevitably implies that the final responsibility for the solution or lack of solution of the dispute rests with the governments concerned."
325. 'The Kashmir issue was taken to the UN by India in January, 1948 and remained active in the UN Security Council till the late fifties The Indian complaint was filed under Chapter VI of the UN Charter and not under Chapter VII, which requires mandatory enforcement of the UN Security Council's decisions.' Kashmir policy: an overview by Shamshad Ahmad, Dawn 2004-08-05 Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
326. "There are two sorts of security council resolution: those under 'chapter 6' are non-binding recommendations dealing with the peaceful resolution of disputes; those under 'chapter 7' give the council broad powers, including war, to deal with 'threats to the peace ... or acts of aggression'." If Saddam steps out of line we must go straight to war by Bill Emmott, The Guardian, 2002-11-25.
327. Suterwalla, Azeem (Winter 2000). "Collective Insecurities". Harvard International Review. 22 (4). Archived from the original on 1 September 2006. Chapter VI establishes the appropriate methods of settling international disputes and the Security Council's powers in relation to them. It is generally agreed that resolutions under Chapter VI are advisory rather than binding. These resolutions have generally been operative only with the consent of all parties involved. Traditionally, the Chapter has not been interpreted to support collective intervention by member states in the affairs of another member state. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
328. "A chronology of the Kashmir dispute". Sound Vision. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
329. "Low expectations from Indo-Pak talks".
330. "The Rediff Interview/Ashraf Jehangir Qazi".
331. "Don't expect too much from talks: Officials".
332. "Does India have a case in Kashmir?".
333. "Annan upbeat on Kashmir". BBC News. 16 March 2001.
334. "Terrorism to feature in talks with Kofi Annan". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 10 March 2001.
335. "We have `left aside' U.N. resolutions on Kashmir: Musharraf". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 19 December 2003.
336. "The Musharraf formula".
337. "Does Pakistan have sincere intention to resolve Kashmir issue: Omar to Musharraf". The Times Of India. 17 November 2012.
338. Subramanian Swamy (6 February 2003). "India's bleeding head wound". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
339. Hashim Qureshi. "Understanding UN Resolutions on Kashmir". Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
340. "rediff.com: The Rediff Interview/Pakistan's High Commissioner for India Ashraf Jehangir Qazi". Retrieved 1 April 2015.
341. ^ "Jammu and Kashmir out of U.N. list of disputes". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
342. ^ "Jammu & Kashmir out of UN disputes list; Pakistan cries foul". dna. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
343. "Kashmir issue left unmentioned in United Nations". The Express Tribune. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
344. ^ "Pak slams missing Kashmir in UN disputes list". IBNLive. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
345. ^ "Kashmir is India's 'internal' issue: US envoy". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
346. ^ "Kashmir is India's 'internal' issue: US envoy". Indian Express. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
347. "Kashmir is India's 'internal' issue: US envoy". Pakistan Defence. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
348. "Kashmir is India's 'internal' issue: US envoy". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
349. "Kashmir an international issue, not internal: Geelani". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. Retrieved 1 April 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
350. "Kashmir Not an Internal Issue: Separatist Leader". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
351. "UN Denies Kashmir's Removal From SC Agenda". 16 November 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
352. ^ "Kashmir Plebiscite: Is it Still Relevant? by Jaipal Singh". Boloji. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
353. http://web.archive.org/web/20150402213209/http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2014/Dec/5/the-battle-of-ballot-and-boycott-5.asp. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2015. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
354. "Article 370: 10 facts that you need to know : Highlights, News - India Today". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
355. ^ "Art 370, J&K's only link with India: Omar Abdullah". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
356. "Abrogation Of Article 370 Not Possible By Justice Rajindar Sachar". Retrieved 1 April 2015.
357. "Abrogation of Article 370 a very complex affair, say legal experts". IBNLive. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
358. "Even Parliament can't abrogate Article 370: Mufti". Rising Kashmir. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
359. Art 370 permanent…cannot be repealed or amended: HC, The Indian Express, 12 October 2015.
360. The importance of Article 370, The Hindu, 15 October 2015.
361. Ganai, Naseer (3 December 2013). "Attacked from all sides: J&K leaders lash out at Modi over Article 370 comment". Mail Online. London. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
362. ^ "National Assembly of Pakistan". Retrieved 1 April 2015.
363. ^ Arundhati Roy (28 November 2010). "They can file a charge posthumously against Jawaharlal Nehru too: Arundhati Roy". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
364. Archived 2015-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
365. "Geelani said the government has to fulfil Jawaharlal Nehru's promise for a plebiscite in 1947". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2015. Read 15th Paragraph.
366. "The blunder of the Pandit". Retrieved 1 April 2015.
367. ^ "HOW A BILL BECOMES AN ACT". Retrieved 1 April 2015.
368. "Doctrine Of Basic Structure (Constitutional Law) - Author - Himanshu Tyagi". Retrieved 1 April 2015.
369. http://jklegislativeassembly.nic.in/Costitution_of_J&K.pdf
370. Press Trust of India (27 October 2013). "Indira-Sheikh accord a milestone event: Vohra". Retrieved 1 April 2015.
371. ^ Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir (PDF). Official website of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on National Informatics Centre, India. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
372. "'The plebiscite has taken place'". Rising Kashmir. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
373. "People voted in Kashmir in favor of democratic system-TN". Taazi News. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
374. ^ "Till Freedom Come". Outlook. 18 October 1995. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
375. ^ "'First' Kashmir survey produces 'startling' results". BBC. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
376. "Kashmir: Paths to Peace". Chatham House. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
377. http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/public/Research/Asia/0510pp_kashmir.pdf
378. ^ "Just 2% of people in J&K want to join Pak: Survey". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
379. ^ Bradnock, Robert W. (May 2010). "Kashmir: Paths to Peace" (PDF). Chatham House: 19.
380. Bradnock, Robert W. (May 2010). "Kashmir:Paths to Peace" (PDF). Chatham House: 19.
381. ^ "Only 2% Kashmiris want to join Pak: Survey". Zee News. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
382. Bradnock, Robert W. (May 2010). "Kashmir: Paths to Peace" (PDF). Chatham House: 17.

Sources

• Ankit, Rakesh (2013), "Britain and Kashmir, 1948: "The Arena of the UN"", Diplomacy & Statecraft, 24 (2): 273–290, doi:10.1080/09592296.2013.789771 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
• Bose, Sumantra (2003). Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-01173-2.
• Chattha, Ilyas (2011), Partition and Locality: Violence, Migration and Development in Gujranwala and Sialkot 1947-1961, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780199061723
  • Chattha, Ilyas Ahmad (September 2009), Partition and Its Aftermath: Violence, Migration and the Role of Refugees in the Socio-Economic Development of Gujranwala and Sialkot Cities, 1947-1961 (PDF), University of Southampton, retrieved 16 February 2016
• Fair, C. Christine (January 2011), "The Militant Challenge in Pakistan", Asia Policy: 105–37, doi:10.1353/asp.2011.0010{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Korbel, Josef (1953), "The Kashmir dispute after six years", International Organization, 7 (4), Cambridge University Press: 498–510, JSTOR 2704850 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
• Noorani, A. G. (2014) , The Kashmir Dispute, 1947-2012, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-940018-8
• Panigrahi, D. N. (2009), Jammu and Kashmir, the Cold War and the West, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-136-51751-8
• Paul, T. V. (1994), Asymmetric Conflicts: War Initiation by Weaker Powers, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-46621-9
• Rai, Mridu (2004). Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir. C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 1850656614.
• Schofield, Victoria (2003) , Kashmir in Conflict, London and New York: I. B. Taurus & Co, ISBN 1860648983
• Snedden, Christopher (2013) , Kashmir: The Unwritten History, HarperCollins India, ISBN 9350298988
• Subbiah, Sumathi (2004), "Security Council Mediation and the Kashmir Dispute: Reflections on Its Failures and Possibilities for Renewal", Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, 27 (1): 173–185
• Varshney, Ashutosh (1992). "Three Compromised Nationalisms: Why Kashmir has been a Problem". In Raju G. C. Thomas (ed.). Perspectives on Kashmir: the roots of conflict in South Asia. Westview Press. pp. 191–234. ISBN 978-0-8133-8343-9. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)

Further reading

Pre-independence history

• Drew, Federic. 1877. The Northern Barrier of India: a popular account of the Jammoo and Kashmir Territories with Illustrations.&;#8221; 1st edition: Edward Stanford, London. Reprint: Light & Life Publishers, Jammu. 1971.

Partition and Post-independence

• Dr. Ijaz Hussain, 1998, Kashmir Dispute: An International Law Perspective, National Institute of Pakistan Studies
• Alastair Lamb, Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy 1846–1990 (Hertingfordbury, Herts: Roxford Books, 1991)
• Kashmir Study Group, 1947–1997, the Kashmir dispute at fifty : charting paths to peace (New York, 1997)
• Jaspreet Singh, Seventeen Tomatoes– an unprecedented look inside the world of an army camp in Kashmir (Vehicle Press; Montreal, Canada, 2004)
• Navnita Behera, Demystifying Kashmir (Washington, D.C.: Brooking Institute Press, 2006).
• Navnita Behera, State, identity and violence : Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (New Delhi: Manohar, 2000)
• Sumit Ganguly, The Crisis in Kashmir (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press; Cambridge : Cambridge U.P., 1997)
• Sumantra Bose, The challenge in Kashmir : democracy, self-determination and a just peace (New Delhi: Sage, 1997)
• Robert Johnson, A Region in Turmoil (London and New York, Reaktion, 2005)
• Hans Köchler, The Kashmir Problem between Law and Realpolitik. Reflections on a Negotiated Settlement. Keynote speech delivered at the "Global Discourse on Kashmir 2008." European Parliament, Brussels, 1 April 2008.
• Prem Shankar Jha, Kashmir, 1947: rival versions of history (New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1996)
• Manoj Joshi, The Lost Rebellion (New Delhi: Penguin India, 1999)
• Alexander Evans, "Why Peace Won't Come to Kashmir", Current History (Vol 100, No 645) April 2001 p170-175.
• Surinder Mohan, "Transforming the Line of Control: Bringing the 'Homeland' Back In", Asian Politics & Policy (Vol 5, No 1) January 2013 p51-75.
• Younghusband, Francis and Molyneux, E. 1917. Kashmir. A. & C. Black, London.
• Victoria Schofield, Kashmir in the Crossfire, I.B. Tauris, London.
• Andrew Whitehead, A Mission in Kashmir, Penguin India, 2007
• Muhammad Ayub, An Army; Its Role & Rule (A History of the Pakistan Army from Independence to Kargil 1947–1999). Rosedog Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA. 2005. ISBN 0-8059-9594-3

Web sources

• Kashmir Conflict, Homepage Washington Post.
• The UN Security Council Resolution on Kashmir Capt Samarth Singh.

External links

• The Future of Kashmir, Matthew A. Rosenstein et al., ACDIS Swords and Ploughshares 16:1 (winter 2007-8), Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security (ACDIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Centre for Contemporary Conflict on Kargil War
• BBC articles on Kashmir
• Recent Kashmir developments
• The Political Economy of the Kashmir Conflict US Institute of Peace Report, June 2004
• The Kashmir dispute-cause or symptom?
• LoC-Line of Control situation in Kashmir
• An outline of the history of Kashmir
• News Coverage of Kashmir
• Accession Document
• Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet Resources by the Library, University of California, Berkeley, USA; University of California at Berkeley Library Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies list
• Timeline since April 2003
• Kashmir resolution of the European Parliament, 24 May 2007
• "Election in Kashmir Begins Amid Boycott Calls"
• Disputed territories of India

v t e Kashmir Valley
Passes	Banihal Pass Zojila Burzil Pass Sinthan top Margan Top
Valleys	Sind Valley Lidder Valley Lolab Valley Betaab Valley
Cities	Srinagar Anantnag Baramulla
Towns	Akingam Achabal Pulwama Budgam Ganderbal Shopian Bandipore Kulgam Downtown Nowshera Gurez Pattan Kangan Hazratbal Awantipora Tral Qazigund Kokernag Shangus Bijbehara Doru Pahalgam Pattan Uri Kreeri Boniyar Tangmarg Sopore Rafaiabad Karnah Kupwara Lolab Handwara Langate Charari Sharief Beerwah Chadoora Bagh e Mehtab Sumbal Sonawari Quimoh Pahloo D.H.Pora Soura Buchpora Jawahar Nagar Srinagar Rajbagh Bemina Maisuma Karan Nagar Indira Nagar, Srinagar Hazratbal Lal Chowk Sonwar Bagh Nowhatta Hazratbal Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar Lal Bazar Zukura Munawar Abad Badami Bagh Nowshera, Srinagar Singhpora Magam Kokernag Daksum
Rivers	Jehlum Sind Lidder Kishanganga Veshaw Rambi Ara
Glaciers	Kolhoi Glacier Machoi Glacier
Lakes	Anchar Lake Dal Lake Nigeen Lake Manasbal Lake Wular Lake Vishansar Lake Krishansar Lake Gangabal Lake Gadsar Lake Sheshnag Lake Tarsar Lake Nundkol Lake Satsar Lake Kausar Nag Brari Nambal Khushal Sar Gil Sar Khanpursar
Mountains	Harmukh Kolhoi Peak Machoi Peak Amarnath Peak Sirbal Peak Tatakooti Peak Sunset Peak Mahadev
Hill stations and Mughal gardens	Pahalgam Sonamarg Yusmarg Gulmarg Aharbal Nishat Bagh Shalimar Bagh Chashme Shahi Verinag Kokernag Naseem Bagh Pari Mahal Achabal
Protected areas	Dachigam Hokersar Hirpora Overa-Aru Rajparian Gulmarg
See also	History of Kashmir Kashmir conflict The Valley Of Kashmir (1895 book) Line of Control Jammu–Baramulla line Kashmiri language

v t e India–Pakistan relations
Diplomatic posts	High Commissioners of India to Pakistan High Commission of Pakistan, New Delhi
Diplomacy	Karachi Agreement Jinnah–Mountbatten talks Liaquat–Nehru Pact Evacuee Trust Property Board Indus Waters Treaty Permanent Indus Commission Tashkent Declaration Simla Agreement Delhi Agreement Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines 1974 Non-Nuclear Aggression Agreement Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline Lahore Declaration Iran–Pakistan gas pipeline Agra Summit Indo-Pak Joint Judicial Committee India–Pakistan maritime trespassing Sir Creek Mahavir/Sadqi International Parade Ground
Conflicts	Partition of India Kashmir conflict Indian Armed Forces in Jammu and Kashmir Peacebuilding in Jammu and Kashmir Annexation of Junagadh Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948 Insurgency in Balochistan Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 Operation Gibraltar Custodian for Enemy Property for India Bangladesh Liberation War Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 Pakistani Instrument of Surrender Islamabad–New Delhi hotline POWs Line of Control NJ9842 Siachen conflict Operation Tupac Kargil War Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir 2008 Kashmir unrest 2010 Kashmir unrest 2016–2017 Kashmir unrest 2019–2021 lockdown Inter-Services Intelligence activities in India
Incidents	1947 Amritsar train massacre Indo-Pakistani water dispute of 1948 Sino-Pakistan Agreement Trans-Karakoram Tract 1959 Canberra shootdown 1971 Indian Airlines hijacking Kashmir Singh Samba spy scandal Indian Airlines Flight 423 Ravindra Kaushik Pan Am Flight 73 Operation Brasstacks Sarabjit Singh Sanaullah Haq 1992 India–Pakistan floods 1999 Pakistan Breguet 1150 Atlantic shootdown Beheading of Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar 2001 Indian Parliament attack 2001–2002 standoff 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings 2008 Mumbai attacks 2008 military standoff 2011 border skirmishes Khaleel Chishty 2013 border skirmishes 2014–2015 border skirmishes 2014 India–Pakistan floods 2014 Wagah border suicide attack Kulbhushan Jadhav 2016 Pathankot attack 2016 Uri attack 2016 Indian Line of Control strike 2016–2018 border skirmishes 2019 India–Pakistan border skirmishes 2019 Balakot airstrike 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes Media coverage 2020–2021 skirmishes 2021 Lahore bombing 2022 missile incident 2023 border skirmishes
Related	Border Wagah-Attari Attari–Wagah border ceremony Ganda Singh Wala-Hussainiwala Kartarpur Corridor Indians in Pakistan Pakistanis in India Anti-Indian sentiment Anti-Pakistan sentiment Illegal immigration to India East Bengali refugees Sports rivalries Cricket Field hockey Transport between India and Pakistan Delhi–Lahore Bus Jammu–Sialkot line Poonch-Rawalakot Bus Samjhauta Express Srinagar–Muzaffarabad Bus Thar Express Sind Mail Jinnah House Aaghaz-e-Dosti Aman ki Asha Indian reunification Indo-Pakistani Confederation Akhand Bharat Hindi–Urdu controversy Pakistani textbooks controversy Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project Nuclear arms race India and weapons of mass destruction Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism Bleed India with a Thousand Cuts New Concept of War Fighting Cold Start Foodistan Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Inspiration: Aman Ki Aasha tour
Category:India–Pakistan relations

• Disputed territories in Asia
• History of Azad Kashmir
• History of Jammu and Kashmir
• Independent India
• Kashmir
• Kashmir conflict
• Natural resource conflicts
• Territorial disputes of India
• Territorial disputes of Pakistan
• Mountain warfare
• Conflicts in 2014
• Conflicts in 2015
• Ongoing conflicts