Resolving The Kashmir Dispute: "Enlightened Sovereignty" Can Be The Way Forward (original) (raw)

Conflict and cooperation are ontologically two central components of human organisation. From the Paleolithic period to modern times, human beings as well as the nation-states fight and also cooperate with each other all the time. Realism essentialise the former while cooperative components are central to neo-liberalism. The post-World War European political and diplomatic experiences might serve as a point of departure here. Nevertheless, when it comes to politics and foreign policy in South Asia, the realist approach seems to have dominated the political, and indeed military, thinking in the region that witnessed many wars; four between India and Pakistan, not counting the multiple stand-offs, continuing warfare in Afghanistan, and the civil wars in Nepal and Sri Lanka. Among the above-mentioned cases, the India-Pakistan case has assumed regional and global attention. At the heart of India-Pakistan relations lies the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). This issue has been approached, documented and analysed from a variety of perspectives and actors ranging from academics to the UN experts have attempted to do so. Academically, the literature produced can broadly be termed as pro-India, pro-Pakistan and pro-Kashmir. The pro-India work is essentially integrationist which make a case to annex princely states, including J&K, with reference to Greater India-which was partitioned by the British. Kashmir is thus termed as "atoot ang" of "Akhand Bharat". In the view of pro-India studies, Kashmir was constitutionally an integral part of the Indian Union under Article 370-which was revoked by Modi-led BJP on August 5, and an election was held to substitute the 'promised' plebiscite which is enchanted by the pro-Pakistan literature. The latter regards J&K as the unfinished agenda of partition.

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