A Bridge Over Troubled Political Waters

India's stated policy is that there can be no international intervention to resolve the Kashmir issue — that it can only be done bilaterally.

- ADITI PHADNIS

Variations on this theme range from total rejection of any international intervention to tentative acceptance of technical assistance. But the reality is that in past wars (including near-wars/skirmishes/standoffs) with Pakistan, pressure, even direct intervention, from foreign powers has contributed significantly to ending them.

The most manifest evidence of this was the 1965 war that concluded with the Soviet Union-brokered Tashkent Agreement in 1966. Sanjeev Chopra captures this in a richly detailed account of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's negotiation of the war and the agreement that ended it. Most Indians will recognise the same words and phrases used by Pakistan then as now, especially during Operation Sindoor. The book ends with a poignant description of the circumstances of Shastri's death in Tashkent. Mr. Chopra does not forward conspiracy theories.

The 1965 war was Pakistan's second effort to reclaim Kashmir after the 1948 attack by tribal raiders. The India-Pakistan border at the Rann of Kutch was undemarcated. Pakistan attacked here, seeking to leverage India's demoralisation after the 1962 war with China and Nehru's death in 1964. India reclaimed its territory, but Pakistan launched two other operations, Gibraltar and Grand Slam, within months. India retaliated with a surprise offensive that saw tanks at the border of Lahore.