The state has its reasons | The Indian Express

The state has its reasons | The Indian Express

Written by Sanjaya Baru |Updated: August 7, 2019 9:17:47 am

The writer is Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, New Delhi.

The state has its reasons

A soft solution to the Kashmir dispute has had no takers in India and Pakistan since 2014. The changing global environment may have influenced New Delhi to opt for a hard solution

Since 2014, there have been no takers for the soft solution both in India and Pakistan. Illustration by C R Sasikumar

For over seven decades, the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir has been masked in ambiguity and deceit. Successive governments of both India and Pakistan had tried but failed to arrive at an amicable “final solution” because of the play of vested interests on both sides. These attempts over time shaped two potential routes to a resolution. One may be termed the “hard” option and the other the “soft” option. Pakistan tried the hard option of occupying the territory as early as in 1947 when it sent troops into the erstwhile kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir and grabbed territory. It tried the hard option a second time but failed, in 1998 when it crossed the Line of Control (LoC) at Kargil.