INDIA’S recurring attempts to present Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of its territory cannot change a reality recognised by the international community for decades. The latest episode, triggered by India’s assertions following a recent United Nations vote on the representation of continental landmasses, is yet another reminder of New Delhi’s persistent effort to turn a disputed question into a settled fact through maps and official statements.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs insisted that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh be depicted according to its so-called official map and termed any deviation unacceptable. The response from our Foreign Office was, therefore, both timely and justified. Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan rightly rejected the Indian assertions, stressing that unilateral claims of sovereignty cannot alter the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir. The historical record is clear. The Kashmir dispute was taken to the United Nations by Indian leaders themselves. The United Nations Security Council subsequently adopted resolutions calling for a settlement reflecting the will of the Kashmiri people through a free and impartial plebiscite. No cartographic exercise, administrative manoeuvre or unilateral declaration can erase that history. India’s periodic insistence on portraying IIOJ&K as settled territory also appears designed to divert attention from the realities on the ground, including serious and continuing human rights violations and restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri people. Yet such tactics have failed to extinguish the political aspirations of the people of IIOJ&K. Generations of Kashmiris have continued to demand the right to determine their own future, a principle embedded in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The international community cannot afford to treat this long-standing dispute as merely a bilateral disagreement. The commitments made to the Kashmiri people carry a moral and political responsibility that must not be forgotten. A just and peaceful settlement of Kashmir is also essential for durable peace and stability in South Asia. India would do better to abandon its intransigence, acknowledge the unresolved nature of the dispute and engage with Pakistan in a meaningful dialogue for its peaceful solution.
