A HARBINGER OF INDIA'S NEW POK POLICY

A recent book, Forgotten Kashmir, The Other Side of the Line of Control, by former Ambassador Dinkar P. Srivastava seems to prepare the ground for a change in policy.

- T.P. SREENIVASAN

V.K. Krishna Menon is said to have remarked after his marathon speech at the UN Security Council in 1957 that he had said everything that needed to be said about Kashmir and that anyone, who wanted to know the Indian position, should simply refer to his speech. But millions of words have been spoken at the UN by succeeding generations of diplomats since then, just to point out that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The unspoken position, however, was that India would be willing to turn the Line of Control into the international border, accepting, in effect, a division of Jammu and Kashmir. The two countries were close to signing of an agreement to this effect in Shimla in 1972.

There have been indications from the Indian leadership that, apart from the state of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the POK and other areas are also part of India and should be returned to it. For the first time, during the 76 session of the UN General Assembly, India called upon Pakistan to vacate “all areas under its illegal occupation”, signaling a major change of policy.

A recent book, Forgotten Kashmir, The Other Side of the Line of Control (Harper Collins, Pages 439 INR 699) by former Ambassador Dinkar P. Srivastava seems to prepare the ground for a change in policy. He examines the policy of Pakistan towards Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and Gilgit-Baltistan over the last 70 years. His meticulous and painstaking research has brought out the perfidy of Pakistan in annexing these regions through a process of false legislation and use of force. Pakistan denied to the people of this region the same fundamental right to determine their future, which they appeared. to champion for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a story of deception, discrimination, forgery and falsehoods. For his exposure of Pakistan, he has relied mostly on documents and sources from Pakistan, the West and the UN.