By Muhammad Ijlal Azam
While watching television or reading a newspaper whenever we hear the word ‘Kashmir’, our minds immediately flood with the pictures of violence and fighting, and builds our Goosebumps for war.
The global powers also gets unnerved over such a situation but they see it from a different point of view. They are more concerned with keeping stability in the region than hearing the demands of Kashmiris and so steps on to maintain status quo over the situation among the parties involved in the issue. And so the region becomes tranquil for a while. This is a periodic trend occurring throughout the history of Kashmir conflict. As a result of such confrontations, one question regularly haunts the minds of policy makers of both Pakistan and India: what would be the future of Pak-India relations with their continuous tension over the Kashmir issue? To answer that question, it is imperative to analyze Kashmir issue, or rather is it such a thorn in the peace of South Asia. But before that, let us take a glimpse of the history of Kashmir conflict.
It all began when the British left Subcontinent for good without delineating the boundaries of Pakistan and India, leaving different princely states to decide their own fate. This ambiguity caused the ambitious Kashmiri ruler to dream of an independent Kashmiri state. His dream, however was shattered by an uprising of the Muslim subjects of the state against his government. This created opportunity for India to intervene on ‘behalf’ of the Dogra ruler, dragging Pakistan in the conflict in the process and leading to war. The result of the war was a stalemate which then led to another three wars in the region with the same result and so it continues till the present day.
As of now, three countries have their political presence within the boundary of the Jammu and Kashmir state, the Peoples Republic of China controlling north eastern and eastern areas, Republic of India controlling the central and southern areas, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan controlling north western and western areas of the state. Pakistan and China are traditional allies in the conflict since 1962 when they delineated borders of the Pakistan-occupied areas of Kashmir with China. But while occupying significant regions of state, China does not have irredentist ideas regarding the whole state of Kashmir, though it does have a strong military presence in the border areas of Kashmir. This leaves Pakistan and India as the two main parties to the conflict.
In the conflict, prime agenda of both India and Pakistan is to safeguard the lives and properties of their supporters in the conflict, with Pakistan supporting the Muslim majority and India supporting the Hindu minority of the state. Both sides also want to gain control of all resources of the state. In addition the control of whole state by one party would provide it a great strategic position, in military terms, against the other. And finally, for Pakistan Kashmir is the lifeline for its water resources, which under the Indian control, would spell disaster for the agro economy of Pakistan. That was the story from their point of view. Now let us look at the whole scenario from a different angle.
It is a grim reality that Pakistan and India are engaged in constant tensions since their independence, based on communal riots before their independence and the massacres during the partition. They both are engaged in a never-ending arms race which is highly unsustainable for their economies, they have also almost completely shut trade relations with each other, leading to poverty and economic instability of both sides. They are also engaged in a constant tussle over water resources. The same relationship exists between India and China, where India was born with a legacy of ill-defined border with China and locked in an ideological fight with its communist neighbor, leading to less trade between these two major economies of the world than their potential. . All three of these countries want a solution for these problems, which seemingly have no solution. However, Kashmir can be just the solution they are looking for.
Now, both sides of Kashmir until recently, have trade relationship with their occupiers based on the Standstill agreement originating in the Dogra Era, whereby both India and Pakistan would have free trade relations with Kashmir. If the special status of Kashmir is restored by India and the standstill agreement is extended on both sides of L.O.C. it would immediately open a new corridor for trade between India and Pakistan. Kashmir can also act as a corridor for India-Afghan trade. Its water resources could also be used to develop water transportation between the two countries which would then, instead of fighting over water, become protectors of water resources. The increasing economic interdependence would end the arms race, freeing up resources for the development of both states. Kashmiri government can also become a corridor for India and the Chinese over the issue of Tibetan exiles, by acting as a mediator over the conflict.
The results of these developments would be peace and development in the region for the common people of all three of these countries. It would also mean opening of the Sharda temple for Hindus once again and the Hazratbal shrine for Muslims of the region. Even China would have benefits in opening the traditional trade between Kashmir Tibet and Xinjiang, as the development of trade in the region would lower the stakes of conflict in the respective regions, against the Chinese. It could also be used for political benefits by the governments involved in such a pact. India could conceive it as a development towards the greater Indian ideal, Pakistan could celebrate it as freeing up of Kashmiri Muslims against Indian despotic government and China could corner its political opponents in Tibet demanding succession. But the greatest beneficiary of such a scenario would be the Kashmiri people themselves, Hindus and Muslims alike, and so the peace and prosperity in the state would end the armed conflict over Kashmir issue, where Kashmir would still be divided and yet still be united. The enmity between Hindus and Muslims in the state would also lessen as Hindu Dogras would take pride in their Kingdom with a Dogra as its symbolic figurehead while the Muslim Kashmiris would conceive it as a major step in the restoration of their ancient kingdom.
It is ultimately we who make situations as they appear before us. Thus, if we have positive perceptions about an issue, we can always find a solution. The scenario in this article may be one of the many where Kashmir issue can become an opportunity for us. Now it is up to us and our governments to conceive and implement these ideas to turn Kashmir Issue into one of the greatest success of diplomacy between the two regional countries.
Author: Muhammad Ijlal Azam (Graduate student of International Relations in the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad)
(The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights)
Image Credit: Bhat Burhan/The Kashmir Walla