The Kashmir Conflict Begins

In October 1947, just weeks after Partition, tribal militias backed by Pakistan invaded the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, whose Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh had not yet decided whether to accede to India or Pakistan. As the raiders approached Srinagar, the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession to India, and Indian troops were airlifted to defend the valley. The resulting First Kashmir War (1947-1948) ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire that divided Kashmir along the Line of Control — India holding roughly two-thirds (including the Kashmir Valley) and Pakistan holding the rest (Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan). The UN called for a plebiscite that was never held. Kashmir has since been the cause of two more wars (1965, 1999), a decades-long insurgency, nuclear tensions, and the daily reality of one of the most militarized zones on Earth. It remains the oldest unresolved territorial dispute on the UN Security Council's agenda.