India’s Quest for Kashmir: Pakistan’s Offensive Diplomacy

Abstract

The Kashmir issue and bilateral relations with India has been dominating the foreign policy of Pakistan since independence. Kashmir represents the unfinished agenda of partition of subcontinent in 1947 and also it is the main hurdle in the normalization of cordial relations between Pakistan and India. Three wars have been fought over Kashmir making it one of the main unresolved international dispute today and it has made this region as a potential nuclear flashpoint. Pakistan advocates the peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue through diplomatic maneuvers and by implementing UN resolutions on Kashmir. On the contrary India has deployed thousands of military and para military forces and has not abandoned the militaristic approach for resolution of this issue since beginning. In a recent move, India has converted Kashmir into integral part of India, by revocation of Article 370 of Indian constitution on August 05 2019 that has altered the demographic status of Kashmir. Pakistan will continue to propagate the legitimate Kashmiri struggle for their right of self-determination as per norms of international law.   This paper analyses Pakistan’s objective and approach towards the Kashmir issue and, given the changing international scenario, the possible options for its resolution.

 Key Words: Kashmir issue, UNSC resolutions, India, Pakistan, diplomatic maneuvers