Tulsyan

Woodstock School

India, Pakistan, and SAARC

Kashmir Conflict

Harsh Tulsyan

MYP Integrated Humanities

Tilak KC

01 Dec. 2021
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Research Question

To what extent did SAARC succeed in preventing the Indo-Pakistan Kashmir conflict?

Research Relevance

The only reason India fights with Pakistan is because of the Kashmir conflict. After

independence from the British, India got split into 2 countries: India and Pakistan. This was

known as the partition of India. After the partition of India, most of the Muslim people fled to

Pakistan and all the Hindus came to India (Perkins). However, they fight over Kashmir. Kashmir

is currently divided into two regions - PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) and Jammu and

Kashmir which is a part of India (The Economist). Kashmir is an Indian state because the King

of Kashmir during British rule had legally merged Kashmir with India and it was always like

that, and it never changed (Shukla).Pakistan wants Kashmir because Kashmir is a Muslim state

i.e., it has more Muslims than Hindus. India wants Kashmir because there are many rivers in

Kashmir which can be used to irrigate the lands near Kashmir, and it can also be used for hydro-

electric power (Shukla). Another reason both nations want Kashmir is because it connects 4

countries and can boost the countries trade to the north Asian region (Shukla). The first Kashmir

War was in 1947, the year of partition. The second war was in 1965. The third war was the

largest war which was the Kargil war of 1999 (Ketchell).

Research Methodology

This research paper will be using secondary research sources because this is about a

political alliance. We may not have the right contacts for answering the question. Also on the

internet, there are varied sources which will give you more information and in more detail. Also,
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it is faster to collect information second hand than primary sources. One might have to travel for

collecting data primarily, but one can find the information on the internet also. Also, this

research paper will be using qualitative research as this data and research is non-numerical and

cannot be measured in quantities. This data requires more observations, statements and

interviews which give you a perfect perspective of the data and you can write your thesis and

explain it better.

To what extent did SAARC succeed in preventing the Indo-Pakistan Kashmir conflict?

The current chair of SAARC is Nepal. SAARC is the only regional institution where both

India and Pakistan are members (Yhome). The main reason for SAARC’s failure is the tension

between India and Pakistan. Both countries fight with each other regarding Kashmir which goes

completely against the protocols and objectives of the SAARC. However, SAARC has

succeeded in one thing. SAARC aimed at promoting economic cooperation with free trade and

the economic ties of India and Pakistan has improved a lot (Ahmed). The only major reason for

SAARC’s failure is that India and Pakistan are in it. According to me, I think that any

cooperation or any organization in which India and Pakistan are there in it, it will fail because

they both fight a lot with each other.

Since SAARC is the only cooperation in which both India and Pakistan are in together, it

is trying very hard to solve their issues and stop them from fighting with each other. SAARC has

not done anything to create peace between the two nations. However, India has done something

to offer peace. Before 1995, Pakistan refused to give India the Most Favoured Nation (MFN)

award (Ahmed). The award is a unanimous decision and every nation agreed for India but

Pakistan. But in 1995, India offered the MFN to Pakistan. Every other nation agreed for the
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same, but Pakistan did not take that as a peace offering. In fact, Pakistan started the Kargil War

in 1999 fighting India trying to take Pakistan (Ketchell). Pakistan however gave the award to

India in 2011after a bilateral meeting in Pakistan, Islamabad (Ahmed).

SAARC has overall failed in promoting regional cooperation between the two nations. It

was unable to make progress in relieving the India Pakistan tension which has resulted to the

unending fight between India and Pakistan (Yhome). SAARC had not taken any step to prevent

the Kashmir wars at that time. After the second Kashmir war in 1971 (Ketchell), both nations

expected the third war soon. But SAARC ignored this and did not do anything about it.

However, this failure was only till 2019 where they decided to act between the two nations. This

fire lit up in SAARC after the Pulwama Attack in 2019. This attack triggered the SAARC to act

upon the crisis (Yhome).

SAARC has done something about the India Pakistan tension and tried to put a stop to it

altogether. After the Pulwama attack in 2019, SAARC has requested India and Pakistan to

exercise restraint (Yhome). This means that SAARC has made a statement which has a

significant role played by the SAARC in conflict resolution (Yhome).

The chair of SAARC has instructed India and Pakistan to exercise utmost restraint and to

try not to engage in any activity that would threaten the peace and security in that region

(Yhome). Nepal has told India and Pakistan to find a solution through dialogue and peaceful

means to ease tension and normalize the situations and having worried about the importance of

peace and stability in South Asia (Yhome). If this does not happen, then the nations have agreed

that SAARC nations will help the two nations decide about what will happen and take matters

into SAARC’s hands (Yhome).

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Conclusion

As written above, SAARC has both succeeded and failed in preventing Indo-Pakistan

conflict. However, the research paper and the research has shown that SAARC has failed mor

that succeed. SAARC implemented the rules way too late and already there have been so many

wars fought in the past. If they had done it after the first or second war, both nations would have

respected it and these wars would be prevented. They took the step now and in the last 2 years

there has been peace between both nations. Towards the end, SAARC has succeeded I hope that

both nations continue to respect each other in the future as well.

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REFERENCES

Ahmed, Zahid Shabab. "India-Pakistan relations and SAARC." 16 January 2012. Peace Insight.

24 November 2021. <https://www.peaceinsight.org/en/articles/india-pakistan-saarc/?

location=pakistan&theme=mediation-dialogue>.

Ketchell, Misha. "India and Pakistan fought 3 wars over Kashmir – here’s why international law

and US help can’t solve this territorial dispute." 24 08 2021. The Conversation. 21 11

2021. <https://theconversation.com/india-and-pakistan-fought-3-wars-over-kashmir-

heres-why-international-law-and-us-help-cant-solve-this-territorial-dispute-164672>.

Perkins, C. Ryan. "1947 Partition of India & Pakistan." n.d. Stanford Libraries. 22 11 2021.

<https://exhibits.stanford.edu/1947-partition/about/1947-partition-of-india-pakistan>.

Shukla, Abhishek. "Why Kashmir is important for India." 18 03 2018. Youtube. 22 11 2021.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPqVHCQyqZM&t=121s>.

The Economist. "A history of the Kashmir conflict | The Economist." 20 11 2009. Youtube. 22

11 2021. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rmUiLwy7kI&t=41s>.

Yhome, K. "India-Pakistan tension: Is there a role for SAARC?" 2 March 2019. Observer

Research Foundation. 24 November 2021.

<https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/india-pakistan-tension-is-there-role-for-saarc-

48690/>.
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