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Kashmir
War 1947 - 1948
The first Indo-Pakistani war started
after armed tribesmen from Pakistan's north-west frontier province
invaded Kashmir in October 1947.
Besieged both by a revolt in his state and by the invasion,
the Maharaja requested armed assistance from the government
of India. In return he acceded to India, handing over powers
of defence, communication and foreign affairs.
Both India and Pakistan agreed that the accession would be confirmed
by a referendum once hostilities had ceased.
Historians continue to debate the precise timing when the Maharaja
of Jammu and Kashmir signed the instrument of accession and
the Indian army moved into the state, arguing that the Maharaja
acceded to India under duress.
In May 1948, the regular Pakistani army was called upon to protect
Pakistan's borders. Fighting continued throughout the year between
Pakistani irregular troops and the Indian army.
The war ended on 1 January 1949 when a ceasefire was arranged
by the United Nations, which recommended that both India and
Pakistan should adhere to their commitment to hold a referendum
in the state. A ceasefire line was established where the two
sides stopped fighting and a UN peacekeeping force established.
The referendum, however, has never been held.
In 1954 Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India was ratified
by the state's constituent assembly. In 1957, it approved its
own constitution, modelled along the Indian constitution. Since
that time India has regarded that part of the state which it
controls as an integral part of the Indian union.
To the west of the ceasefire line, Pakistan controls roughly
one third of the state. A small region, which the Pakistanis
call Azad (Free) Jammu and Kashmir, and the Indians call Pakistani-occupied
Kashmir, is semi-autonomous. The larger area, which includes
the former kingdoms of Hunza and Nagar, called the northern
areas, is directly administered by Pakistan.
In 1962-3, following the 1962 Sino-Indian war, India and Pakistan
held talks under the auspices of Britain and the US in an attempt
to resolve their differences over Kashmir, but without success.
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