Kashmir Conflict and the Question of Self-Determination

The objective of this paper is to explore relations between Pakistan and India since their inception in the perspective of Kashmir conundrum and its impact on the regional security. Kashmir is the unfinished agenda of partition and a stumbling block in the bilateral relations between Pakistan and India. After the partition of sub-continent in 1947, Pakistan and India got their sovereign status. Kashmir conflict, a disputed status state, is the byproduct of partition. Pakistan and India are traditional arch-foes. Any clash between Pakistan and India can bring the two nuclear states toe-to-toe and accelerate into nuclear warfare. Due to the revulsion, hostility and lack of trust between the two, the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue has been long overdue. Ever-increasing border spats, arms race and threat of terrorism between the two have augmented anxiety in the subcontinent along with the halt of talks between India and Pakistan at several times. Additionally, it hampers the economic and trade ties between the two. India, time and again, backtracked on Kashmir issue despite UN efforts to resolve the issue. Recently, Indian government has responded heavy-handedly to the Kashmiri agitators’ demand for sovereignty and revocation of ‘Special Status’ of Kashmir impacting the stability of the region in future.