The Jammu and Kashmir dispute has been on the agenda of the United Nations as an unresolved issue for the past seven decades. Eighteen resolutions of the UNSC and two resolutions of the UNCIP provide a solution to the Jammu and Kashmir conflict. In 1948, India approached the UN under Article 35 of the Charter. There is no mechanism for taking a case directly under Chapter VII. India claimed that the state of Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of it under the Instrument of Accession, and Pakistan invaded Kashmir by providing aid to the tribals, which may be regarded as aggression.
On January 15, 1948, Pakistan submitted a reply to India’s allegations to the UNSC (document S/646). Pakistan rejected India’s accusations, stating that the movement against the Dogra regime in Kashmir was initiated by the Kashmiris themselves. They established the Azad Kashmir government, whose forces are fighting for liberation. Accession by the Maharaja is not legal as it violates the standstill agreement and goes against the will and wishes of the Kashmiri people. Pakistan demanded that people, whether they belonged to Pakistan or India, and the Indian forces should be withdrawn from Kashmir. The people who were expelled from Kashmir, citizens of the state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 15, 1947, should be brought back. Steps should be taken for the representative government of the whole state, and under the supervision of this administration, a plebiscite should be held to decide the future of the State.
The first resolution recognizing the right to self-determination was passed on April 12, 1948. UNCIP passed its first resolution on August 13, 1948, and its first part was implemented, with a ceasefire agreed upon. However, parts II and III are yet to be implemented. Part II is about demilitarization and many attempts have been made to agree on the number of forces between Pakistan and India. On March 12, 1949, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed as Plebiscite Administrator by the UNSC, negotiating with Pakistan and India but failing to agree on the number of troops to be kept in Kashmir. On December 17, 1949, General MC Naughton was appointed to negotiate with India and Pakistan, but the negotiations were fruitless. On April 12, 1950, Saravan Dixon was appointed as a mediator by the United Nations. According to Dixon’s report, Pakistan agreed to his proposal regarding the number of troops, but India rejected the proposals. On March 30, 1951, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution presented by the UK and the US, agreeing to appoint a UN representative for Pakistan and India. The mandate of this representative was to convince Pakistan and India to withdraw their troops in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan on August 13, 1948, and January 5, 1949. On March 30, 1951, the Security Council appointed Dr. Frank P. Graham as Special Representative for Pakistan and India. He submitted many reports, and on March 28, 1958, Graham wrote a letter to the President of the Security Council containing his proposals to Pakistan and India and the response of both countries. This letter is available in the United Nations Digital Library as S/3984. Graham proposed that both countries renew the declaration in accordance with the resolution of January 17, 1948, and Part I of August 13, 1948. They should respect the ceasefire line and not cross or attempt to cross it by land or air. According to the second part of the resolution of August 13, 1948, Pakistani forces will withdraw from Jammu and Kashmir, and the local authority under the supervision of the Commission will manage the areas vacated by the Pakistani forces. India will withdraw a large number of troops from Jammu and Kashmir in phases with the consent of the Commission.
In expediting the implementation of the resolution and safeguarding the vacated areas by Pakistani forces, a pragmatic approach involves deploying UN troops on the Pakistani side of the ceasefire line. Urgency is emphasized for an accord to conduct a plebiscite, aligned with the resolutions of August 13, 1948, and January 5, 1949. To delineate the procedure and timing, a conference between the Prime Ministers of both nations should convene in early spring, supervised by a Special Representative. Despite Pakistan’s immediate agreement in principle and readiness to execute the proposals, India staunchly rejected all, consistently obstructing efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute. Pakistan maintains its steadfast demand for a referendum as the equitable resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue, asserting that no unilateral action by India can alter the disputed nature of the region.
—The writer is contributing columnist based in Islamabad.
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views expressed are writer’s own.
