The Kashmir dispute is the oldest unresolved international conflict in the world Pakistan considers Kashmir as its core political dispute with India. India’s forcible occupation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 is the main cause of the dispute. India claims to have ‘signed’ a controversial document, the Instrument of Accession, on 26 October 1947 with the Maharaja of Kashmir, in which the Maharaja obtained India’s military help against popular insurgency. The people of Kashmir and Pakistan do not accept India’ claim as there are doubts about the very existence of any such document Instrument of Accession.
The United Nations also does not consider Indian claim as valid, it recognises Kashmir as a disputed territory. With the exception of India, the entire world community recognises Kashmir as a disputed territory. The fact is that all the principles, on the basis of which the Indian subcontinent was partitioned by the British in 1947, justify Kashmir becoming a part of Pakistan as it had majority Muslim population, and it not only enjoyed geographical proximity with Pakistan but also had essential economic linkages with its territories.
WAQAR AHMED GOPANG,
Khairpur Mirs, February 11.