A subject of dispute: a legal analysis of the claims of India and Pakistan to Kashmir

Abstract

This diesis analyses the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan according to principles of international law. First, the British imperial background to the dispute is described; then, m four chapters, various aspects of the dispute are discussed. Chapter One focusses on the means by which Kashmir joined the Indian union and evaluates several legal objections to the accession of Kashmir to India. Chapter Two looks at the use of force by India, Pakistan, and others in Kashmir, whether force was used legally, and the legal consequences of the territorial situations resulting from the fitting. Chapter Three examines the efforts of the United Nations to resolve the dispute; it also discusses indo-Pakistani bilateral diplomacy. Finally, Chapter Four addresses the question of self-determination in Kashmir, considering the claims of India and Pakistan as well as the notion that Kashmir may be legally entitled to independence. The conclusion of the thesis is that India and Pakistan both have valid claims to portions of Kashmir but that neither may claim it in its entirety; that Kashmir is not entitled to independence; and that the results of a UN-supervised plebiscite should be used to demarcate a permanent Indo-Pakistani boundary.