Kashmir: A dangerous flashpoint in South Asia

This article traces the history and examines the roots of the complex, volatile, and intractable dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The Kashmir issue has plagued both countries domestically since independence in 1947; it haunts relations between India and Pakistan and, in turn, between the two South Asian neighbors and other countries in the region. In many ways, the dispute over Kashmir is an ethnic, religious, and territorial issue with the potential for strategic and economic gains to India and Pakistan. Both nations assert strong legal and moral claims to Kashmir. Meanwhile, many inhabitants of Kashmir have virtually reconciled themselves to accepting the status quo and have practically abandoned their insistence on the right to self-determination. A major uprising against Indian rule, begun in 1989 by Kashmiri Muslims, has changed the face of Kashmir to such an extent that a gun culture has converted the fabled paradise into a martyrs' graveyard. Many in Pakistan and India believe that the possession of nuclear weapons, together with a satisfactory delivery mechanism, gives them a credible deterrence and will discourage confrontation. Therefore, they conclude, the region has achieved stability through deterrence. But what effect will the nuclear tests in 1998 have on the resolution of the Kashmir dispute? This article explores this question and examines ways in which both countries might extricate themselves from the dispute without any further human or material losses.