KASHMIR: THE FORGOTTEN CONFLICT: ASAD
HASHIM
1947 - Britain, as part of its pullout
from the Indian subcontinent, divides it into secular (but mainly Hindu) India
and Muslim Pakistan on August 15 and 14 respectively. The partition causes one
of the largest human migrations ever seen, and sparks riots and violence across
the region.
1947/48 - The first Indo-Pak war over
Kashmir is fought, after armed tribesmen (lashkars) from Pakistan's North West
Frontier Province (now called Khyber-Pakthunkhwa) invade the disputed territory
in October 1947. The Maharaja, faced with an internal revolt as well an
external invasion, requests the assistance of the Indian armed forces, in
return for acceding to India. He hands over control of his defence,
communications and foreign affairs to the Indian government.Both sides agree that the instrument of accession signed by
Maharaja Hari Singh be ratified by a referendum, to be held after hostilities
have ceased. Historians on either side of the dispute remain undecided as to
whether the Maharaja signed the document after Indian troops had entered
Kashmir (i.e. under duress) or if he did so under no direct military pressure.Fighting continues through the second half of 1948, with the
regular Pakistani army called upon to protect Pakistan's borders.
The war officially ends on January 1, 1949, when the United Nations
arranges a ceasefire, with an established ceasefire line, a UN peacekeeping
force and a recommendation that the referendum on the accession of Kashmir to
India be held as agreed earlier. That referendum has yet to be held. Pakistan controls roughly one-third of the state, referring to it
as Azad (free) Jammu and Kashmir. It is semi-autonomous. A larger area,
including the former kingdoms of Hunza and Nagar, is controlled directly by the
central Pakistani government.The Indian (eastern) side of the ceasefire line is referred to as
Jammu and Kashmir.Both countries refer to the other side of the ceasefire line as
"occupied" territory.
1954 - The accession of Jammu and
Kashmir to India is ratified by the state's constituent assembly.
1957 - The Jammu and Kashmir
constituent assembly approves a constitution. India, from the point of the
1954
ratification and 1957 constitution, begins to refer to Jammu and Kashmir as an
integral part of the Indian union.
1963 - Following the 1962 Sino-Indian
war, the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan - Swaran Singh and Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto - hold talks under the auspices of the British and Americans
regarding the Kashmir dispute. The specific contents of those talks have not
yet been declassified, but no agreement was reached. In the talks,
"Pakistan signified willingness to consider approaches other than a
plebiscite and India recognised that the status of Kashmir was in dispute and
territorial adjustments might be necessary," according to a declassified
US state department memo (dated January 27, 1964).
1964 - Following the failure of the
1963 talks, Pakistan refers the Kashmir case to the UN Security Council.
1965 - India and Pakistan fight their
second war. The conflict begins after a clash between border patrols in April
in the Rann of Kutch (in the Indian state of Gujarat), but escalates on August
5, when between 26,000 and 33,000 Pakistani soldiers cross the ceasefire line
dressed as Kashmiri locals, crossing into Indian-administered Kashmir.Infantry, armour and air force units are involved in the
conflict while it remains localised to the Kashmir theatre, but as the war
expands, Indian troops cross the international border at Lahore on September 6.
The largest engagement of the war takes place in the Sialkot sector, where
between 400 and 600 tanks square off in an inconclusive battle.By September 22, both sides agree to a UN mandated ceasefire,
ending the war that had by that point reached a stalemate, with both sides
holding some of the other's territory.
1966 - On January 10, 1966, Indian
Prime Minister Lal Bahdaur Shastri and Pakistani President Ayub Khan sign an
agreement at Tashkent (now in Uzbekistan), agreeing to withdraw to pre-August
lines and that economic and diplomatic relations would be restored.
1971 - India and Pakistan go to war a
third time, this time over East Pakistan. The conflict begins when the central
Pakistani government in West Pakistan, led by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, refuses to
allow Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a Bengali whose party won the
majority of seats in the 1970 parliamentary elections, to assume the
premiership.A Pakistani military crackdown on Dhaka begins in March, but India
becomes involved in the conflict in December, after the Pakistani air force launches a pre-emptive strike on
airfields in India's northwest.India then launches a coordinated land, air and sea assault on
East Pakistan. The Pakistani army surrenders at Dhaka, and its army of more
than 90,000 become prisoners of war. Hostilities lasted 13 days, making this
one of the shortest wars in modern history.East Pakistan becomes the independent country of Bangladesh on December 6,
1971.
1972 - Pakistani Prime Minister
Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sign an agreement
in the Indian town of Simla, in which both countries agree to "put an end
to the conflict and confrontation that have hitherto marred their relations and
work for the promotion of a friendly and harmonious relationship and the
establishment of a durable peace in the subcontinent". Both sides agree to
settle any disputes "by peaceful means".The Simla Agreement designates the ceasefire line of December 17,
1971, as being the new "Line-of-Control (LoC)" between the two
countries, which neither side is to seek to alter unilaterally, and which
"shall be respected by both sides without prejudice to the recognised
position of either side".
1974 - The Kashmiri state government
affirms that the state "is a constituent unit of the Union of India".
Pakistan rejects the accord with the Indian government.On May 18, India detonates a nuclear device at Pokhran, in an
operation codenamed "Smiling Buddha". India refers to the device as a
"peaceful nuclear explosive".
1988 - The two countries sign an
agreement that neither side will attack the other's nuclear installations or
facilities. These include "nuclear power and research reactors, fuel
fabrication, uranium enrichment, isotopes separation and reprocessing
facilities as well as any other installations with fresh or irradiated nuclear
fuel and materials in any form and establishments storing significant
quantities of radio-active materials".
Both sides agree to share
information on the latitudes and longitudes of all nuclear installations. This
agreement is later ratified, and the two countries share information on January
1 each year since then.
1989 - Armed resistance to Indian rule
in the Kashmir valley begins. Muslim political parties, after accusing the
state government of rigging the 1987 state legislative elections, form militant
wings. Pakistan says that it gives its "moral and diplomatic"
support to the movement, reiterating its call for the earlier UN-sponsored
referendum.India says that Pakistan is supporting the insurgency by providing
weapons and training to fighters, terming attacks against it in Kashmir
"cross-border terrorism". Pakistan denies this.Militant groups taking part in the fight in Kashmir continue to
emerge through the 1990s, in part fuelled by a large influx of
"mujahideen" who took part in the Afghan war against the Soviets in
the 1980s.
1991 - The two countries sign
agreements on providing advance notification of military exercises, manoeuvres
and troop movements, as well as on preventing airspace violations and
establishing overflight rules.
1992 - A joint declaration prohibiting
the use of chemical weapons is signed in New Delhi.
1996 - Following a series of clashes,
military officers from both countries meet at the LoC in order to ease
tensions.
1998 - India detonates five nuclear
devices at Pokhran. Pakistan responds by detonating six nuclear devices of its
own in the Chaghai Hills. The tests result in international sanctions being
placed on both countries. In the same year, both countries carry out tests of
long-range missiles.
1999 - Indian Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee meets with Nawaz Sharif, his Pakistani counterpart, in Lahore.
The two sign the Lahore Declaration, the first major agreement between the two
countries since the 1972 Simla Accord. Both countries reaffirm their commitment
to the Simla Accord, and agree to undertake a number of 'Confidence Building
Measures' (CBMs).Some of the diplomatic gains are eroded, however, after the Kargil
conflict breaks out in May. Pakistani forces and Kashmiri fighters occupy
strategic positions on the Indian side of the LoC, prompting an Indian counter
offensive in which they are pushed back to the other side of the original
LoC.Kargil is the first armed conflict between the two neighbours
since they officially conducted nuclear weapons tests.In October 1999, General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani chief of
army staff, leads a military coup, deposing Nawaz Sharif, the then prime
minister, and installing himself as the head of the government.
2001 - Tensions along the Line of
Control remain high, with 38 people killed in an attack on the Kashmiri
assembly in Srinagar. Following that attack, Farooq Abdullah, the chief
minister of Indian-administered Kashmir, calls on the Indian government to
launch a full-scale military operation against alleged training camps in
Pakistan.In July, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee meet for a two-day summit in the Indian city of
Agra. That summit collapses after two days, with both sides unable to reach
agreement on the core issue of Kashmir.On December 13, an armed attack on the Indian parliament in New
Delhi leaves 14 people dead. India blames Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad
for the attacks.The attacks lead to a massing of India's and Pakistan's militaries
along the LoC. The standoff only ends in October 2002, after international
mediation.
2002 - President Musharraf pledges that
Pakistan will combat extremism on its own soil, but affirms that the country
has a right to Kashmir.
2003 - After Musharraf calls for a ceasefire
along the LoC during a UN General Assembly meeting in September, the two
countries reach an agreement to cool tensions and cease hostilities across the
defacto border.
2004 - Vajpayee and Musharraf hold
direct talks at the 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad in January, and the two
countries' foreign secretaries meet later in the year. This year marks the
beginning of the Composite Dialogue Process, in which bilateral meetings are
held between officials at various levels of government (including foreign ministers,
foreign secretaries, military officers, border security officials,
anti-narcotics officials and nuclear experts). In November, on the eve of a
visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the new Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh,
announces that India will be reducing its deployment of troops there.
2006 - India redeploys 5,000 troops
from Jammu and Kashmir, citing an "improvement" in the situation
there, but the two countries are unable to reach an agreement on withdrawing
forces from the Siachen glacier.In September, President Musharraf and Prime Minister Singh agree
to put into place an Indo-Pak institutional anti-terrorism mechanism.
2007 - On February 18, the train
service between India and Pakistan (the Samjhauta Express) is bombed near
Panipat, north of New Delhi. Sixty-eight people are killed, and dozens
injured.The fifth round of talks regarding the review of nuclear and
ballistic missile-related CBMs is held as part of the Composite Dialogue
Process. The second round of the Joint Anti-Terrorism Mechanism (JATM) is also
held.
2008 - India joins a framework
agreement between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan on a $7.6bn gas
pipeline project. A series of Kashmir-specific CBMs are also agreed to
(including the approval of a triple-entry permit facility).In July, India blames Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)
directorate for a bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, which kills 58
and injures another 141.In September, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian
Prime Minister Singh formally announce the opening of several trade routes
between the two countries.In October, cross-LoC trade commences, though it is limited to 21
items and can take place on only two days a week.On November 26, armed gunmen open fire on civilians at several
sites in Mumbai, India. The attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, the
Oberoi Trident Hotel, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Leopold Cafe, Cama
Hospital, Nariman House Jewish community centre, Metro Cinema, St Xavier's
College and in a lane near the Times of India office, prompt an almost
three-day siege of the Taj, where gunmen remain holed up until all but one of
them are killed in an Indian security forces operation. More than 160
people are killed in the attacks.Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker captured alive, says the attackers
were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba.In the wake of the attacks, India breaks off talks with Pakistan.
2009 - The Pakistani government
admits that the Mumbai attacks may have been partly planned on Pakistani soil,
while vigorously denying allegations that the plotters were sanctioned or aided
by Pakistan's intelligence agencies.Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Indian Prime
Minister Singh meet on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, issuing a joint statement charting future
talks. Singh rules out, however, the resumption of the Composite Dialogue
Process at the present time.
The Indian government continues to take a stern line with
Pakistan, however, with its coalition government saying that it is up to
Pakistan to take the first step towards the resumption of substantive talks by
cracking down on militant groups on its soil.In August, India gives Pakistan a new dossier of evidence
regarding the Mumbai attacks, asking it to prosecute Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the
head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an Islamic charity with ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba.
2010 - In January, Pakistani and Indian
forces exchange fire across the LoC in Kashmir, the latest in a string of such
incidents that have led to rising tension in the area.In February, India and Pakistan's foreign secretaries meet in New
Delhi for talks. This meeting is followed by the two countries' foreign
ministers meeting in Islamabad in July.In May, Ajmal Kasab is found guilty of murder, conspiracy and of
waging war against India in the Mumbai attacks case. He is sentenced to death.
2011 - In January, Indian Home
Secretary GK Pillai says India will share information with Pakistan regarding
the 2001 Samjhauta Express bombing. The two countries' foreign secretaries meet
in Thimpu, Nepal, in February, and agree to resume peace talks "on all
issues".
2012 - In November, India execute Pakistani national Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of a fighter squad that killed 166 people in a rampage through the financial capital Mumbai in 2008, hanging him just days before the fourth anniversary of the attack.
2013 - In January, India and Pakistan trade accusations of violating the cease-fire in Kashmir, with Islamabad accusing Indian troops of a cross-border raid that killed a soldier and India charging that Pakistani shelling destroyed a home on its side.
2012 - In November, India execute Pakistani national Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of a fighter squad that killed 166 people in a rampage through the financial capital Mumbai in 2008, hanging him just days before the fourth anniversary of the attack.
2013 - In January, India and Pakistan trade accusations of violating the cease-fire in Kashmir, with Islamabad accusing Indian troops of a cross-border raid that killed a soldier and India charging that Pakistani shelling destroyed a home on its side.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/kashmirtheforgottenconflict/2011/06/2011615113058224115.html
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