oday I am going to show you the real map of India. This is not the one which you found in your old geography and history books. But before this, I would like to give you some background. After getting the Independence from English rule, India and Pakistan fought their first war over Jammu and Kashmir in 1948. However due to intervention from United Nations, both agreed to a ceasefire. As a result of of this ceasefire, 1/3 of Kashmir went to Pakistan. After 1971 Indo-Pak war, under the terms of the Shimla agreement, the ceasefire line was renamed the Line of Control.
Now the situation is that both India and Pakistan claim Jammu and Kashmir as their integral part. However, according to BBC, India is ready to accept LOC as the international boundary but Pakistan is not ready to accept status quo in this controversial land.
India and Pakistan after 1948 ceasefire :
In 1962 China attacked India in Akshai Chin region of Kashmir and easily defeated Indian troops and captured a big portion of India.
The Indian-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir became a state in 1974. The parts of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas, have anomalous status as administered territories. In 1963 China and Pakistan delimited a boundary and gave control of Shaksam Valley to China.
Current Position in Kashmir ::
This the current map of disputed areas of the region of Kashmir. India claims the entire erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir based on an instrument ofaccession signed in 1947. Pakistan claims all areas of the erstwhile state except for those claimed by China. China claims the Shaksam Valley and Aksai Chin.
India claims the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir but right now administers approximately 43% of the region, including most of Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, and the Siachen Glacier.
Pakistan controls approximately 37% of Kashmir, namely Azad Kashmir and the northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan.
China controls 20% of Kashmir, including Aksai Chin, which it occupied following the brief Sino-Indian War of 1962, and the Trans-Karakoram Tract (also known as the Shaksam Valley), which was ceded by Pakistan in 1963.
India has officially stated that it believes that Kashmir is an integral part of India, though the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, stated after the 2010 Kashmir Unrest that his government is willing to grant autonomy within the purview of Indian constitution to Kashmir if there is consensus on this issue.
Pakistan says that Kashmir is a disputed territory whose final status must be determined by the people of Kashmir. China states that Aksai Chin is a part of China and does not recognize the addition of Aksai Chin to the Kashmir region. Certain Kashmiri independence groups believe that Kashmir should be independent of both India and Pakistan.
It is really sad for India that today territory equivalent to the size of Kerala State of India is under Chinese occupation and had recently even objected to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh. The state of Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China as part of South Tibet.
Being an Indian, I would love to see great Indian republic as
But what’s the solution?
