Kashmir joined India after a Pakistani-backed invasion, which started the first war. The UN arranged a ceasefire but not the promised vote.
Kashmir was a princely state with a Muslim majority and a Hindu ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh. He hoped to stay independent.
In October 1947 tribal fighters from Pakistan invaded. The Maharaja asked India for help and signed an Instrument of Accession joining India. Indian troops were flown in, and war with Pakistan followed.
Each side had a claim. India relied on the legal accession. Pakistan argued that a Muslim-majority state on its border should belong to it. Kashmir also mattered for security and for the rivers that flowed into Pakistan.
India took the dispute to the UN in January 1948. In April 1948 the Security Council called for Pakistani withdrawal, a reduction of Indian forces and a plebiscite, a vote by the people of Kashmir.
A ceasefire began on 1 January 1949, and UN military observers (UNMOGIP) arrived to watch the ceasefire line. Neither side withdrew as required, and the plebiscite was never held.
- Accession
- October 1947: the Maharaja joins India.
- Resolution 47
- April 1948: a plebiscite called for.
- Ceasefire
- 1 January 1949; UNMOGIP observers.
Worked example: Explaining the Kashmir dispute
Why was Kashmir so hard to settle?
- Territory: both states claimed it.
- Identity: India's secular nationalism against Pakistan's Muslim nationalism.
- Security: it bordered India, Pakistan and China.
- Economics: it held the headwaters of Pakistan's rivers.
Watch out for this
The UN failed in Kashmir because it did nothing.
The UN arranged a ceasefire and sent observers who stayed. It failed to secure the plebiscite because neither India nor Pakistan would withdraw as required.
Check your understanding
What did the UN Security Council call for in April 1948?
- A plebiscite after Pakistani withdrawal and a reduction of Indian forces
- Kashmir to join Pakistan immediately
- A UN army to fight in Kashmir