Q&A: Kashmir dispute

The mountainous region of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 50 years. BBC News Online provides a step-by-step guide to the dispute.

How high are tensions now?

Tensions have been easing over the last few months following concerted international pressure on both India and Pakistan to pull back from the brink of war.


Both sides say they plan to withdraw troops from frontline positions.

By promising on a number of occasions to stop militants from infiltrating the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir from Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf, appeared to have met a key Indian demand.

Until the weekend temple attacks, India had adopted a softer tone after outbreaks of violence since the summer.

When suspected pro-Pakistan Muslim militants killed 27 Hindus near Jammu in July, India stopped short of directly blaming Pakistan.

Delhi said Pakistan had modified its attitude in the last year and now recognised the killing of innocent civilians as terrorism, not part of the freedom struggle.


What triggered the current stand-off?

The troop build-up began after India blamed Pakistani-based militants for an attack on parliament in Delhi last December.

Delhi said Pakistan intelligence services helped organise the attack, a charge vigorously denied by Islamabad, which says it provides only moral and diplomatic support to militants.

The situation moved further towards all-out war in May, when gunmen attacked an army camp in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing more than 30 people.

About one million troops have been amassed on both sides of the border, prompting international fears of a nuclear war.

Forces from both countries deployed along the frontline began regularly shelling each other, killing and injuring civilians in the area.

Is there still a real danger of war?

There has been massive international pressure on both Delhi and Islamabad to resolve the crisis, with calls for restraint from the US, the EU and others.

There are still fears that even a minor incident along the border could trigger a conflagration between the two nuclear-capable powers.

The pressure seems to have helped lower the temperature - in the last couple of months India has even allowed soldiers at the front to take home leave.

But neither side has pulled back any of its troops yet and regular shelling continues.

Both President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee are under considerable domestic pressure not to back down in the stand-off.

Pakistan has said it is ready to hold talks at any time, but India refuses to enter negotiations until it is satisfied that cross-border infiltration has come to a complete halt.

Why is Kashmir disputed?

The territory of Kashmir was hotly contested even before India and Pakistan won their independence from Britain in August 1947.

Under the partition plan provided by the Indian Independence Act of 1947, Kashmir was free to accede to India or Pakistan.

The Maharaja, Hari Singh, wanted to stay independent but eventually decided to accede to India, signing over key powers to the Indian Government - in return for military aid and a promised referendum.

Since then, the territory has been the flashpoint for two of the three India-Pakistan wars: the first in 1947-8, the second in 1965.

In 1999, India fought a brief but bitter conflict with Pakistani-backed forces who had infiltrated Indian-controlled territory in the Kargil area.

In addition to the rival claims of Delhi and Islamabad to the territory, there has been a growing and often violent separatist movement fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989.

What are the rival claims?

Islamabad says Kashmir should have become part of Pakistan in 1947, because Muslims are in the majority in the region (see below).

Pakistan also argues that Kashmiris should be allowed to vote in a referendum on their future, following numerous UN resolutions on the issue.

Delhi, however, does not want international debate on the issue, arguing that the Simla Agreement of 1972 provided for a resolution through bilateral talks.

India points to the Instrument of Accession signed in October 1947 by the Maharaja, Hari Singh.

Both India and Pakistan reject the so-called "third option"of Kashmiri independence.

What is the Line of Control?

A demarcation line was originally established in January 1949 as a ceasefire line, following the end of the first Kashmir war.

In July 1972, after a second conflict, the Line of Control (LoC) was re-established under the terms of the Simla Agreement, with minor variations on the earlier boundary.

The LoC passes through a mountainous region about 5,000 metres high.

India and Pakistan trade fire over the LOC
The conditions are so extreme that the bitter cold claims more lives than the sporadic military skirmishes.

North of the LoC, the rival forces have been entrenched on the Siachen glacier (more than 6,000 metres high) since 1984 - the highest battlefield on earth.

The LoC divides Kashmir on an almost two-to-one basis: Indian-administered Kashmir to the east and south (population about nine million), which falls into the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir; and Pakistani-administered Kashmir to the north and west (population about three million), which is labelled by Pakistan as "Azad" (Free) Kashmir. China also controls a small portion of Kashmir.

What's the UN involvement?

The UN has maintained a presence in the disputed area since 1949.

Currently, the LoC is monitored by the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (Unmogip). It is commanded by Major-General Hermann Loidolt of Austria.

According to the UN, their mission is "to observe, to the extent possible, developments pertaining to the strict observance of the ceasefire of December 1971".

Is religion an issue?

Religion is an important aspect of the dispute. Partition in 1947 gave India's Muslims a state of their own: Pakistan. So a common faith underpins Pakistan's claims to Kashmir, where many areas are Muslim-dominated.

The population of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is over 60% Muslim, making it the only state within India where Muslims are in the majority.

Who are the militants?

There are several groups pursuing the rival claims to Kashmir.

Armed Kashmiri militants: A growing presence
Not all are armed, but since Muslim insurgency began in 1989, the number of armed separatists has grown from hundreds to thousands. The most prominent are the pro-Pakistani Hizbul Mujahideen.

Islamabad denies providing them and others with logistical and material support.

The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) was the largest pro-independence group, but its influence is thought to have waned.

Other groups have joined under the umbrella of the All-Party Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, which campaigns peacefully for an end to India's presence in Kashmir.

Indian forces announced a unilateral ceasefire against militant groups in November 2000, but violence continued.

Attempts to get talks going between the government and the separatist parties have foundered over separatist demands that Pakistan should be included in any dialogue.

India says there can be no discussion involving Pakistan because it sponsors violence in Kashmir.

India and Pakistan failed to narrow their differences over Kashmir at a summit in the Indian city of Agra in July 2001.

Since then, they have continued to trade accusations and outside attempts to get them to resolve their differences have made no headway.

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