Kashmir solution: insights from the past

By K. K. Katyal

NEW DELHI, MAY 31. Kashmir - past, present and future - has been the subject of numerous writings, commentaries and books, the interest in some of which has been revived now, with the top- level dialogue between India and Pakistan not far off.

Mr. P. N. Dhar, who headed the Prime Minister's Office during Indira Gandhi's tenure in the 1970s, was privy to crucial discussions on important issues. He has again dealt with the confidential negotiations between her and the Pakistan interlocutor, Z. A. Bhutto, over the Shimla Agreement in an article in the felicitation volume on the 70th birthday of Dr. Karan Singh. He repeats what he had said earlier in his book that the two leaders had agreed on the conversion of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir into the international border. Some in Pakistan questioned, though faintly, the veracity of his account. Mr. Dhar sticks to his account.

There have been instances in the past when the bitterness arising out of conflicting positions taken by neighbouring countries and the resulting animosities were resolved after many decades. Mr. Dhar mentions the case of Alsace-Lorraine, the bone of contention between France and Germany, which was amicably settled after 75 years. ``This miracle could happen only because soon after the second world war in 1945, France and Germany decided to bury their past animosity and cooperate with each other to build the larger and more prosperous European Economic Community.'' The chances of similar prospect in the Indian sub-continent seem very bleak, at least in the immediate future, according to him. ``Given the present intensity of its rivalry with India, Pakistan considers Indian proposals for economic cooperation as a camouflage for its hegemonic ambitions.''

On the Shimla Agreement, he says: ``At Shimla, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto adopted a statesman-like attitude. He agreed with Indira Gandhi that durable peace and stability was a precondition for the removal of poverty and for economic development and social progress, the shared goals of the two countries. To achieve these goals, both sides agreed that they must bury the hatchet and explore ways and means to settle the Kashmir problem. And the most feasible proposal for this purpose seemed to be to convert the old ceasefire line, renamed Line of Control, into what Bhutto called `a line of peace'. This was to be achieved gradually by endowing it with the attributes of an international border in an environment of expanding economic cooperation and by first trying to start solving less emotionally-charged problems.

``The important feature of the proposal was that neither country was gaining or losing territory, nor did it involve any transfer of population. Kashmiris, as an ethnic community, were left undivided on the Indian side. The Line of Control was actually an ethnic and linguistic frontier. In fact, in 1947, at the time of the partition, it was also an ideological frontier, being the limit of the political influence of the National Conference led by Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. To be sure, there were some anomalies in the line but it was possible to smoothen them out to the mutual satisfaction of both parties.''

Another question often posed here was whether the relations between India and Pakistan would improve if Kashmir was resolved. There were doubts in the minds of Indians on this count.

Mr. Dhar quotes the former ISI Director-General, Mr. Gul Hassan, as having said at a seminar in Islamabad attended, among others, by foreign diplomats: ``It is our aim to weaken India from within - and we can do it.''

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