ABSTRACT
The second chapter of this book dealt with the 50-day Indo-Pakistan Kargil war in the summer of 1999. The conflict was essentially a result of the long-standing dispute between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. Issues related to this dispute have been touched upon in the earlier chapters of this book, particularly the period up to 1965, and then again while discussing the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. The objective here is to analyse the problems related to Kashmir in a somewhat autonomous context, and to speculate on the prospects of some solution over a period of time. The fact of the matter is that India will still have to resolve the current crisis in Kashmir, by structuring a solution responsive to the aspirations of the country’s citizens resident in Jammu and Kashmir. In the second stage, India and Pakistan will have to structure a compromise on the crisis, which is rooted in Pakistan’s views and claims regarding Jammu and Kashmir. Some elemental historical realities and facts have to be kept in mind in analysing the problems.
