Following the partition of British In\u00addia in 1947, Jammu and Kashmir, a princely state with a Muslim majority but ruled by a Hindu monarch, became a point of contention between the new\u00adly formed India and Pakistan. This led to the first Indo-Pak war. As the con\u00adflict escalated, India brought the matter to the United Nations, which, in 1948, called for a ceasefire and the withdraw\u00adal of forces from the region. The Unit\u00aded Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed resolutions stipulating that the future of Kashmir would be determined by a plebiscite, allowing the people of the region to choose between joining India or Pakistan. However, this plebi\u00adscite has never taken place, leaving the status of Kashmir unresolved.<\/p>\n
For the people of Kashmir, it has re\u00admained a consistent political and armed struggle against Indian military occupa\u00adtion, atrocities, and human rights abus\u00ades. For India and Pakistan, it has been the core issue behind three wars, nu\u00admerous border skirmishes, and a con\u00adstant state of \u201cno war, no peace\u201d hostili\u00adty, impacting all aspects of their bilateral relations. This underscores the fact that war between the two nuclear-armed countries cannot resolve the Kashmir conundrum. The continued denial of the right to self-determination under UN resolutions and international law has exacerbated the grievances of the Kash\u00admiri population, leading to widespread disillusionment and leaving the people of occupied Kashmir in a quandary.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
The strategic importance of Kashmir, due to its location between India, Pak\u00adistan, and China, further complicates the issue. Both India and Pakistan view control over Kashmir as vital to their national security and identity. In recent years, the situation in Kashmir has de\u00adteriorated further.<\/p>\n
The international community has re\u00admained oblivious to the complete shut\u00addown and curfews in Illegally Indian Oc\u00adcupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) since August 2019. This was when the extrem\u00adist BJP government in India deprived Kashmir of its special constitutional sta\u00adtus and its people of special rights by re\u00advoking Articles 35A and 370 of the Indian Constitution. The incumbent far-right BJP government, as the political face of the extremist organisation RSS, has long pur\u00adsued its goal of creating a Greater India.<\/p>\n
India, emboldened by its status as a new American strategic ally in the Asia-Pacific (through the QUAD alliance) pri\u00admarily to contest and contain China, has accelerated its efforts to change the de\u00admography of occupied Kashmir. This in\u00adcludes establishing Sainik (military) colonies, industrial zones for Indian in\u00advestors, and, most nefariously, introduc\u00ading domicile certificates for Hindus from across India. It is assessed that Modi and his team may ultimately stage-manage a plebiscite in occupied Jammu and Kash\u00admir to resolve the Kashmir issue on the UN Security Council agenda.<\/p>\n
By and large, global powers remain unconcerned, prioritising trade and economic interests over high moral principles. Ironically, Israel supports In\u00addia in occupied Kashmir, a stance akin to betraying its own history while per\u00adpetrating the brutal genocide of Pales\u00adtinian Muslims in Gaza.<\/p>\n
The Kashmir conflict is one of the most complex and enduring territorial, ideo\u00adlogical, moral, and political disputes in modern history, shaping the geopolitical landscape of South Asia. At the heart of this seven-decade-long issue lies a bro\u00adken promise: the unimplemented plebi\u00adscite meant to allow the people of Jam\u00admu and Kashmir to decide their future.<\/p>\n
Be that as it may, the forums and char\u00adters of organisations such as the SCO and BRICS+ blocs may offer a pathway for India and Pakistan to prioritise mu\u00adtual economic interests. This could ul\u00adtimately pave the way for resolving the Kashmir issue, the Indus Water Treaty dispute, and other territorial conflicts.<\/p>\n
Following the example of recent India-China cooling-off efforts, Pakistan and In\u00addia may find it mutually beneficial to revis\u00adit the Agra Summit (2021) and the Chenab Formula to explore greater economic div\u00adidends. Despite India\u2019s haughty posture, sincere experts on the Kashmir issue from both sides of the border may draw upon Chinese wisdom to explore fresh and vi\u00adsionary approaches to finding an amica\u00adble and peaceful resolution to this most significant flashpoint in South Asia.<\/p>\n
Saleem Qamar Butt<\/strong>
\nThe writer is a retired senior army officer with experience in international relations, military diplomacy and analysis of geo-political and strategic security issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This piece is a sequel to my earli\u00ader published op-ed titled \u201cWall of BRICS\u201d, where I had stated that \u201cthe overall economic imperatives and geopolitical developments seem intertwined to shape events in favour of a cooling-off period between India and China.\u201d Al\u00adthough both Chinese and In\u00addian analysts carefully opine that the recent agreement and implementation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kashmir","tag-color"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=969"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1060,"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969\/revisions\/1060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kashmirinsight.com\/journal\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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This piece is a sequel to my earli\u00ader published op-ed titled \u201cWall of BRICS\u201d, where I had stated that \u201cthe overall economic imperatives and geopolitical developments seem intertwined to shape events in favour of a cooling-off period between India and China.\u201d Al\u00adthough both Chinese and In\u00addian analysts carefully opine that the recent agreement and implementation of the China-In\u00addia border patrol protocol will indeed help ease tensions along the border and improve bilateral relations, the extent of this improvement may remain limited, and its duration may not be long-last\u00ading due to various reasons associated with the strategic contest in the Asia-Pacific. For Chinese companies and cap\u00adital, there may be a window of oppor\u00adtunity in the Indian market. However, for trade and economic projects requir\u00ading long-term commitment and signifi\u00adcant investment, both sides will need to tread cautiously. Nevertheless, both major regional contestants have found it mutually useful to set disputes aside temporarily and pursue their respective economic and trade interests.<\/p>\n