ABSTRACT
The Rann of Kutch is a desolate area of salt marshes, brackish lakes and isolated rocky elevations located between Sind and Gujarat. Prior to independence, the British Indian Province of Sind and the British suzerainties of Kutch, Santalpur, Tharad, Suigam, Wav and Jodhpur abutted on to the Rann of Kutch. With the India Independence Act of 18 July 1947, Sind was allotted to Pakistan, while on the expiry of the suzerainties, the remainder acceded to union with India. Following its independence, in July 1948 Pakistan raised the question of the Sind-Kutch frontier boundary delimitation east of this demarcated section. As in many such instances, the case rested primarily on the geographical definition of the Rann of Kutch. Pakistan submitted evidence to prove that Sind extended south of the Rann before and after the period of British administration.
