India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir Dispute: On Regional Conflict and its Resolution

by Robert Wirsing

Overview

Kashmir is the focal point of an acute regional dispute that has pitted India and Pakistan against one another ever since they gained their independence from Great Britain in 1947. Already, these bitter rivals have gone to war twice over Kashmir, leaving the state physically divided and heavily militarized. The eruption of massive anti-Indian violence in Indian Kashmir in early 1990 has changed the dispute, worsening India-Pakistan relations and lending even greater urgency to the search for settlement. The reasons for, and possible resolutions of, this dispute are the themes of Professor Wirsing's book. Drawing on repeated field visits and wide-ranging interviews with government officials, political leaders, military officers, and diplomats in both India and Pakistan, the author provides abundant new material on the Kashmir dispute's political and military, domestic, and international dimensions. The book responds to mounting international concern about Kashmir with specific, step-by-step recommendations for breaking the existing diplomatic stalemate between India and Pakistan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312175627
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	03/14/1998
Edition description:	1998
Pages:	337
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

ROBERT G. WIRSING is Professor of International Studies, University of South Carolina.

Table of Contents

Maps List of Tables Acknowledgements Introduction PART 1: THE BOUNDARY PROBLEM Entitlement Issues Delimitations Issues The Strategic Context PART II: THE SEPARATIST PROBLEM The Kasmiri Muslim Uprising Indian Security Forces in Jammu and Kashmir Indian Policy in Jammu and Kashmir PART III: THE PROBLEM OF SETTLEMENT Dilemmas of Format: The Instruments of Negotiation Dilemmas of Formula: The Aims of Negotiation PART IV: RECOMMENDATIONS The US Role in Kashmir: Toward Constructive Engagement India and Pakistan: Breaking the Deadlock Appendices Notes Index

Editorial Reviews

The Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan has grown like a cancer for nearly 50 years. Its tangled origins, current animosities, and unlikely future emerge clearly in this work due to the firm control Wirsing exerts over his material. After providing an up-to-date history of the conflict, he examines how it affects the internal political scene of both nations. The study examines a new element to be considered-the rise of a Kashmiri Muslim separatist movement and its complicating impact on any possible resolution. From the viewpoint of a political scientist, Wirsing lists the possible options and formats for settlement and follows with possible resolutions. He closes with the impression that no morally right solution exists that would be satisfactory to any of the parties. Wirsing's finely balanced, well-documented, dispassionate study provides the best available examination of the Kashmir dispute. For informed readers.-John F. Riddick, Central Michigan Univ. Lib., Mt. Pleasant

Library Journal

Drawing on repeated field visits and wide ranging interviews with government officials, political leaders, military officers and diplomats in both India and Pakistan, the author provides new material on the Kashmir dispute's political, military, domestic and international dimensions together with specific recommendations for breaking the existing diplomatic stalemate. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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