What do India and Pakistan say about Kashmir?
Islamabad has always maintained that majority-Muslim Kashmir should have been a part of Pakistan. A United Nations’ resolution adopted after the first war called for a referendum allowing the people of Kashmir to choose which country they wanted to join, but that vote for self-determination has never been held. Pakistan wants that referendum to take place. India claims that Pakistan lends support to separatist groups fighting against government control and argues that a 1972 agreement — signed after the Bangladesh war — mandates a resolution to the Kashmir dispute through bilateral talks. Neither country wants Kashmir to become an independent nation. What is the separatist movement? Over the years, India sent thousands of security forces to Kashmir, making it one of the most highly militarized areas of the world. In 1989, militants began an armed uprising against New Delhi’s control, taking up guns for the cause of independence. India accused its arch-rival Pakistan of fueling terror
