India/ Pakistan Joint Crisis Committee

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "India/ Pakistan Joint Crisis Committee"

Claribel Short
6 years ago
Views:

1 India/ Pakistan Joint Crisis Committee

2 History of Kashmir British Occupation and Princely State In 1845, the First Anglo Sikh War broke out and eventually resulted in the grown presence of British colonizers and families in the subcontinent, especially the north. Ranbir Singh, son of one of the closest local advisors to the British, claimed the Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu by The religious breakdown at this time in Jammu was a mix of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, whereas the heavily populated central Kashmir valley was predominantly Sunni Muslims, with a small, but influential, Hindu Brahmin minority and the Instrument of Accession By 1947, Hari Singh, the grandson of Ranbir, had become the ruler of Kashmir and was consequently in charge of the transition from British rule and partition of the region into India and Pakistan. Muslim rebels throughout the region began revolting to oppose the taxation policies of the Singh monarchy, which developed into support for Kashmir to join the newly formed Pakistan. The independent government of Azad was formed by these rebels on October 24, A trade and relations agreement had been made with Pakistan at this time, but no such relationship had been established with the Indian government. Later that month, Pashtuns from northern Pakistan crossed the border to support local rebels with intention of scaring Hari Singh into siding with Pakistan. However, the Maharaja turned to the Governor General of India for assistance, who required that Kashmir accede to India in exchange for military support. Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to India, and Indian soldiers entered Kashmir to drive away

3 the Pakistani invaders to a small corner of the state. India accepted the accession as such until a popular vote, or plebiscite, could be held. Plebiscite and Post 1947 With tensions rising over the disputed territory, the United Nations stepped in to mediate the disagreement. A plebiscite was determined to be the best solution, but before one could be conducted, both Pakistan and India had to remove all nonresidents of Kashmir, including their armies and paramilitary forces. Unfortunately, everything did not go as planned, and no truce was agreed upon between the two actors. Consequently, tensions escalated two military conflicts several times throughout the 20 th Century. History of Conflict in the Kashmir First Kashmir War 1947 The Kashmir dispute dates from The partition of the Indian subcontinent along religious lines led to the formation of India and Pakistan. However, there remained the problem of over 650 states, run by princes, existing within the two newly independent countries. In theory, these princely states had the option of deciding which country to join, or of remaining independent. In practice, the restive population of each province proved decisive. Although many princes wanted to be "independent" they had to succumb to their people's protests. Because of its location, Kashmir could choose to join either India or Pakistan. Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Kashmir, was Hindu while most of his subjects

4 were Muslim. Unable to decide which nation Kashmir should join, Hari Singh chose to remain neutral. But his hopes of remaining independent were dashed in October 1947, as Pakistan sent in Muslim tribesmen into Kashmir. Hari Singh appealed to the Indian government for military assistance and fled to India. He signed the Instrument of Accession, ceding Kashmir to India on October 26. Indian and Pakistani forces thus fought their first war over Kashmir in India referred the dispute to the United Nations on 1 January. In a resolution dated August 13, 1948, the UN asked Pakistan to remove its troops, after which India was also to withdraw the bulk of its forces. Once this happened, the Kasmiri people were supposed to be allowed to decide between India and Pakistan. India was confident of winning, since the most influential Kashmiri mass leader was firmly on its side. Pakistan ignored the UN mandate and continued fighting, holding on to the portion of Kashmir under its control. On January 1, 1949, a ceasefire was agreed, with 65 per cent of the territory under Indian control and the remainder with Pakistan. The ceasefire was intended to be temporary but the Line of Control remains the de facto border between the two countries. In 1957, Kashmir was formally incorporated into the Indian Union. It was granted a special status under Article 370 of India's constitution, which ensures that non Kashmiri Indians cannot buy property there.

5 Second Kashmir War 1965 Fighting broke out again in 1965, but a ceasefire was reached shortly. India and Pakistan signed the Tashkent agreement on January 1, 1966.This agreement tried to resolve the dispute, but the death of the Pakistani Prime Minister heading the agreement meant that the agreement staled. In 1971 a third war, resulting in the formation of the independent nation of Bangladesh (formerly known as East Pakistan). A war had broken out in East Pakistan in March 1971, and soon India was faced with a million refugees. India declared war on December 3, 1971 after Pakistani Air Force planes struck Indian airfields in the Western sector. Two weeks later, the Indian army marched into Dhaka and the Pakistanis surrendered. In the Western sector the Indians managed to blockade the port city of Karachi and were 50 km into Pakistani territory when a ceasefire was reached. In 1972 India and Pakistan signed the Simla Agreement, which reiterated the promises made in Tashkent. The two sides once again agreed to resolve the issue peacefully, as domestic issues dominated; both India and Pakistan had other important domestic problems which kept Kashmir on the back burner. The balance of influence had decisively tilted in Pakistan's favor by the late 1980s, with people's sympathy no longer with the Indian union as it had been in and India s attempts to install puppet governments in state capitals, manipulating the democratic process in the state legislatures, deeply angered the Kashmiris.

6 The Kargil Conflict 1999 The status quo was largely maintained until 1989 when pro independence and pro Pakistan guerrillas struck in the Indian Kashmir valley. They established a reign of terror and drove out almost all the Hindus from the valley before the Indian army moved in to flush them out. Meanwhile Indian and Pakistani troops regularly exchanged fire at the border. Whereas in 1948 India was in favor for self determination in the Kashmir, by the 1990s it hid behind the Simla agreement and thwarted any attempts at UN or third party mediation. India and Pakistan both tested nuclear devices in May 1998, and then in April 1999 test fired missiles in efforts to perfect delivery systems for their nuclear weapons. But, all hopes of diplomacy disappeared once the cross Line Of Control firing in Kargil began during the mid 1990s. The death toll was more than 30,000. When India began patrolling the Kargil heights that summer, it found to its horror that many key posts vacated in the winter were occupied by infiltrators. India contended that the infiltrators were trained and armed by Pakistan and that Afghan and other foreign mercenaries accompanied them. Pakistan insisted that those involved were freedom fighters from Kashmir and that it was giving only moral support. The conflict ended only after Bill Clinton, the US President, and Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's Prime minister, met in Washington on July 4, Meanwhile, the Indian Army had made significant advances, capturing vital territory on July 4. Despite the

7 apparent efforts to mediate, the US maintained that it was not interfering in what India still claims to be a bilateral issue. Pakistan withdrew its forces later that month. However, skirmishing continued. Though India did not declare war against Pakistan, by all accounts of soldiers and top Indian army officers involved, it was a war in which India lost men engaged in hand to hand combat with Pakistani soldiers in the heights of Kargil a war that could be compared with the one of Despite much pressure from the military and the public, the government decided not to cross the Line Of Control. Pakistan too suffered criticism at home for limiting its war to artillery fire across the LOC and shooting down Indian aircraft. The fear of a full scale war (with nuclear capability adding a deadly dimension), coupled with precarious economies and the knowledge of what international sanctions could do to them, may have prevailed in both countries.

9 Military Capabilities of Pakistan Army The Pakistani Army is by far the most powerful actor when it comes to the armed forces in Pakistan. With the total active duty personnel at almost 725,000, with 500,000 in reserves, the majority of troops belong to this branch of military. These include all land based soldiers and infantry weaponry, such as tanks, personnel carriers, artillery and helicopters. Conscription is still a part of the Pakistani constitution, but it has never been imposed. Navy Naval warfare is handled almost exclusively by the Pakistani Navy with its 25,000 active personnel and 5,000 in reserves. Furthermore, there are approximately 71 ships and 40 light aircraft, including submarines and bombers. Unfortunately, it is one of the smallest branches of the Pakistani Armed Forces. Air Force With 65,000 active duty personnel and 10,000 in reserve, the Pakistani Air Force is a force to be reckoned with. In addition, there exist over 700 aircraft at the nation s disposal, ranging from combat jets to transport and UAVs. It is important to note that both Pakistan and India also possess very powerful surface to air defense capabilities. Nuclear The Pakistani nuclear arsenal is a necessary component to note, as it has only grown since its inception in The first test was in 1998 and they conducted 5 more within two days. The current stockpile is estimated to be about 120 warheads,

10 and it is not growing. The maximum range of strike is approximately 2,500 kilometers. These weapons are under the regulation of the Pakistani Atomic Energy Commission and controlled by the government and military. Many individuals have expressed concerns as to their security. Intelligence Pakistan is notorious for its powerful intelligence arm of government, both external and internal. The Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premiere intelligence agency, providing critical national security information to the Pakistani government. It is often utilized in conjunction with its internal counterpart, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which investigates domestic security issues under the control of the Chief Executive. Positions to Assign: Chairman of Joint Chiefs (General Khalid Shameem Wynne) Director General of ISI (Lt. General Zaheer ul Islam) Director General of IB (Aftab Sultan) Science Advisor to Government (Sania Nishtar) Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sartaj Aziz) Defence Minister Finance Minister (Ishaq Dar) Interior Minister (Nisar Ali Khan) Economic Minister Chief of Army Staff (General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani) Chief of Naval Staff (Admiral Asif Sandila)

11 Chief of Air Staff (Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt) Chairman of Senate (Nayyar Hussain Bukhari) Speaker of National Assembly (Sardar Ayaz Sadiq) Leader of the Opposition (Syed Khursheed Shah) Pakistani Atomic Energy Commission (Dr. Ansar Pervaiz)

Haileybury MUN Research report

Haileybury MUN Research report Security Council The question of Kashmir By: Abhiraj Paliwal Introduction Complex as it is, the issue of Jammu/Kashmir has been troubling the international community for