Thanks Sarsapilla, Infiniti. I am Pakistani (my parents emigrated) but have lived in the US all my life. I consider myself American but want to see Pakistan do well because of the ethnic tie and also because Pakistan doing well is in America’s interests given the rise of Islamist terrorism and the use of Pakistan as the headquarters of Jihad, Inc. in recent years.
That depends on how you define care. If by care you mean whether I lose sleep over it then I don’t care. If you mean that if I were ruler of the world would I give Kashmir a plebiscite? Yes–but I would do the same across the board. There are four areas in Russia and Georgia alone with separatist movements (Chechyna, Dagestan, South Ossetia, and Abhkazia).
That is your position and the Pakistani position. That is not the Indian position. Unless you can convince India of that you cannot get them to hold a vote. As far as India is concerned that is Indian territory. No country is going to voluntary cede a province.
The same could be applied to Pakistan. Pakistan was created out of the same colonial partition. Would you then favor a vote for Baluchistan and the NWFP? How about the Kurds? Did anyone ask them if they wanted to be part of Iraq when the British created “Iraq”? Tibet? And so on. This is the problem with allowing such a vote as far as other nations are concerned. If Kashmir is allowed such a vote why not Tibet, the Kurds, or the South Ossetians? This would affect two veto-wielding nations. Why would China or Russia allow a Kashmiri plebiscite given the implications it would have for them?
At what cost? 60+ years of unending hostility, the constant threat of nuclear war, and the siphoning off of limited resources that are needed for social services and economic development for military purposes. Pakistan trades more with Afghanistan than India. This is ridiculous. India is a rising country. Pakistan is fortunately located next to the two rising Asian giants. It should tether itself economically to them and benefit from their rapid growth. In 50 years Pakistan will neighbor the two largest economies in the world. Do you propose Pakistan have no meaningful relationship with the second largest economy because of a quixotic Kashmir dream? What is Kashmir worth? It has no economic or strategic value.
I agree. Kashmir is useless. Only national pride keeps both Pakistan and India obsessed with it. India would be wise to give it up, or at least grant it independence and make peace with Pakistan.
Jammu is majority Hindu, Ladakh is majority Buddhist. Does the religious logic then mean these parts of Kashmir get a separate vote? Give Jammu to India, Ladakh to China? This is the logical extension of the notion that since Kashmir as a whole is Muslim it should be part of India. If the goal is truly self-determination why hasn’t Pakistan proposed this? Perhaps this could be a basis for a deal. Allow India to keep Jammu and Ladakh and give the Kashmir Valley portion, where most people in Indian Kashmir live, to Pakistan.
The key difference between 62’ and now is nuclear weapons. In 62’ Pakistan would have had a good shot at taking Kashmir but even if China and India go to war today Pakistan would risk a nuclear war if it attempts to take Kashmir.
This is why I believe an India-Pakistan war should never be fought for it can never truly be “won” by either side. The losing party would face immense political pressure to use nukes and the other side would retaliate. Is losing the major cities of both countries worth Kashmir?