K a s h m i r

1
K a s h m i r

• United Nations Mediation
• 1948 - 1953
• Manas Nigam

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UNMOGIP -United Nations Military Observance
Group in India and Pakistan-

• Mission
• Monitor ceasefire line between India and Pakistan
  in State of Jammu and Kashmir
• Strength (31 January 2007)
• 44 military observers, supported by 23
  international civilian personnel and 49 local
  civilian staff
• All from Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Italy,
  Republic of Korea, Sweden and Uruguay
• Duration 1949 Present

Why has the United Nations had to remain in Jammu
and Kashmir for so long?
Chief Military Observer Dragutin Repinc (Croatia)
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Kashmir -A Focus on the Area in
the 1940s-

• Boundaries Afganistan, China, Russia, Pakistan,
  and India
• Area 84,471 square miles
• The Population 4, 021, 616
• 77.11 Muslim, 20 Hindu, 1.6 Sikh
• All Ruled Autocratically by Maharajah Sir Hari
  Singh
• Pervasion of Indian Nationalism
• Three Groups Maharajah and Pro-Autocratic rule,
  Pan-Islamist for Pakistan Accession, National
  Conference for Indian Accession)

Why Have Kashmir?
The State possesses a tremendous strategical
advantage for both countries in terms of defense.
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Makings of a Conflict Independence from Great
Britain-

• June 3, 1947 British Plan for Indias Partition
• Different Princely States of India could either
  accede to India or Pakistan
• Kashmir Standstill Agreement With India and
  Pakistan
• Pakistan, determined to force accession of
  Kashmir put various pressures on the Stat
• In October 1947, Pakistani Forces, arming
  subsidiary Muslim tribesmen/raiders to draw
  blame, invaded Kashmir

The Response

• Kashmir, both Maharajah and National Conference,
  acceded to appealed for aid from India. (See
  www.asiapeace.org/acha/kashmir102.htm)
• Invoking the UNs Charters Article 35, India
  responded with an appeal to the United Nations.
  (See www.asiapeace.org/acha/kashmir105.htm)
• Pakistan appealed to the UN similarly
• Both agreed that a plebescite was necessary, yet
  disagreed on how to do it.

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Security Council Action Phase 1 1948-

• Resolutions (From Belgium)
• India and Pakistan should improve, not aggravate
  conditions
• In January, 1948, Commission to Investigate
  claims of both nations
• April 21, 1948 Focus on establishing plebiscite
• A Bias?
• UN considering Pakistans more than Indias
  complaints
• On June 3, 1948, UN directed Commission to study
  Pakistans charges concerning Jungadh accession
  to India
• Indias distrust of the United Nations
• NY Times (June 16, 1948) The Pro-Indian
  Government of Sheik Abdullah Kashmir is now
  unwilling to even accept an impartial plebiscite.

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UNCIP -Phase 2 United Nations Commission on
India and Pakistan July, 1948-December 1949-
A Gradual Climb Progress

• August 13, 1948 Ceasefire Agreement
• UN discovers that Pakistan was extensively
  involved with invading raiders in Kashmir
• Resolution at asiapeace.org/acha/kashmir108.htm
• Included removal of Pakistani troops India
  agreed, but Pakistan refused
• Both nations agreed to ceasefire on December 31,
  1948
• Secretary General Trygve Halvdan Lie sent
  military advisers to observe ceasefire
• Successes Exchange of prisoners (Jan), Indian
  Regiment Withdrawal (Feb), Plebescite
  Administrator appointed (Admiral Chester Nimitz,
  March)

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UNCIP -Phase 2 United Nations Commission on
India and Pakistan July, 1948-December 1949-
Under the Facade

• High optimism with truce of ceasefire
• However, each nation disagreed on conditions
  necessary for a plebiscite
• Should armies move out? Should people move back
  in? Which army should oversee the plebiscite?
• The UN Response
• Joint Conference in September the issues would
  be arbitrated by the Plebiscite Administrator -
  Pakistan agreed, India did not
• India Why hadnt the UN confronted the
  overwhelming question? Nehru Was Pakistan an
  aggressor or not? Was it appeasement?
• India had always arranged to have a plebiscite
  (Or so it says), and did not need the UN
  appeasing Pakistan at all in this matter

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Informal Mediation Phase 3 December, 1949-

• General A.G.L. McNaughton (Canada) suggested a
  synchronized removal of Indian and Pakistani
  troops
• India disagreed Kashmir had acceded to them!
• Pakistan continued the contention that India was
  invading a heavily Islamic country

A Note
After two years, India and Pakistan are
relentless, neither side willing to
concede. There is still no plebiscite.
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Continued Mediation Phases 4 5 1950s-

• During this period, individual intermediators
  have been appointed by Security Council to
  negotiate the situation all to no avail
• Primarily, Sir Owen Dixon (Australia) from
  AprilSeptember, 1950, offered plans for
  demilitarization
• Followed failed path as last demilitarization
  plan
• There is, I believe, on the side of India, a
  conception of what ought to be done to ascertain
  the real will of the Kashmiri people which is
  not tacitly assumed by me. Doubtless it is a
  conception that Pakistan does not share.
• Former Senator Frank Graham (US) had also found
  no success from 1951-1953, encountering the same
  deadlock with the same issues

GOOD QUOTE!
Enough is Enough...
Pakistan and India pulled the problem out of the
UN in 1953. As of 1953, there is still no
plebiscite.
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Lets Be Serious -Was The UN Successful?-

• The United Nations under Secretary General Trvgve
  Lie was seen to have a success with the Ceasefire
  of 1949
• Yet
• The Security Councils approach, a timidity of
  approach was inadequate The deadlock
  consistently remained
• The UN never dealt with the Who was the
  aggressor? question, as part of the Charter
• Can both sides be right? The UN never picked one
  nation as more justified than another Source of
  deadlock?
• Was there a UN bias towards Pakistan? (UN
  measures suggest so)
• India remained angry that Pakistans invasion
  went unpunished

The Biggest Failure
India and Pakistan have been in armed conflicts
since the attempted mediation. Once in 1971 and
again in 1999. Tension remains along the border.
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Currently -Unhappy Times A World in Chaos-

• Currently, as part of UNMOGIP, there are military
  observers who report on the state of hostilities,
  carry out the UNs instructions, and assist local
  military leaders.
• UNMOGIP was deployed in January, 1950 to observe
  the ceasefire line.
• In Kashmir, there has been much dissent.
• There are separatist movements within Kashmir
  against India and there is still much violence in
  the region.
• However, there are peace attempts despite
  continued conflict between India and Pakistan.
  (Look at Economist article Murder on the
  Friendship Express, February 22, 2007,
  www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id874289
  0)

Unbendable
India and Pakistan continue to remain resilient,
neither letting up. Is the region now so
ideologically involved that politics wont solve
the problem?
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Sources Used

• Josef Korbel, The Kashmir Dispute After Six
  Years International Organization, Vol. 7, No. 4.
  (Nov., 1953), pp. 498-510. links.jstor.org/sici?si
  ci0020-8183281953112973A43C4983ATKDASY3E2.0
  .CO3B2-L
• Taraknath Das, The Kashmir Issue and the United
  Nations. Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 65,
  No. 2. (Jun., 1950), pp. 264-282.
  links.jstor.org/sici?sici0032-3195281950062965
  3A23C2643ATKIATU3E2.0.CO3B2-T
• Michael Brecher. Kashmir A Case Study in United
  Nations Mediation Pacific Affairs, Vol. 26, No.
  3. (Sep., 1953), pp. 195-207 links.jstor.org/sici?
  sici0030-851X2819530929263A33C1953AKACSIU3E
  2.0.CO3B2-Y
• Sylvain Lourie. The United Nations Military
  Observer Group in India and Pakistan
  International Organization, Vol. 9, No. 1. (Feb.,
  1955), pp. 19-31 links.jstor.org/sici?sici0020-81
  83281955022993A13C193ATUNMOG3E2.0.CO3B2-2
• United Nations Military Observer Group in India
  and Pakistan (UNMOGIP website) www.un.org/Depts/dp
  ko/missions/unmogip/index.html
• Murder on the Friendship Express. The
  Economist, February 2nd, 2007 http//www.economist
  .com/displayStory.cfm?story_id8742890