Nelson Mandela on Kashmir: THE KASHMIR QUAGMIRE: SOUTH AFRICA’S FOREIGN POLICY POSITION? By: Salman Khan Ebook
 
An excellent, explosive and well-researched book, covering Kashmir’s past, present and the occupation’s causes, consequences, and the authors call for Kashmir’s right to self-determination. Internationally, the struggle to redress the imbalance in Kashmir must not be ignored. A must-read for anyone who wants to have a balanced view of the Kashmir conflict. This book is a true reflection on the Kashmir conflict from an African perspective. Susan Novela, CEO Diplomatic Informer magazine.

The objectives of this book was to investigate the root causes of the Kashmir dispute and why the dispute has remained unresolved since 1947, as well as to investigate what foreign policy position, if any, South Africa has adopted on the Kashmir dispute.

To achieve the research aim, this dissertation will be guided by the following three research questions:
Why has the Kashmir conflict remained unresolved since 1947?
What is South Africa’s foreign policy position, if any, on the Kashmir dispute?
How should South Africa use its current sitting on the UNSC and the principles of its foreign policy to contribute to the peace process of Kashmir.
The Kashmir dispute has been dominating the India-Pakistan relationship ever since the birth of the two states in 1947. It has also played a significant role in border disputes between China and India over Askai Chin (a portion of Kashmir). Kashmir lies between three of the most populous countries of the world: India, China and Pakistan, covering a land mass of over 80,000 square kilometres – almost the size of the United Kingdom (UK), and inhabiting over 17 million people (Lamb, 1991: 6).
The struggle over the Kashmir valley has been one of the most prolonged disputes of the last century. Since the controversial arrival of Indian forces in Kashmir on 27 October 1947, the territory of Jammu and Kashmir (often referred to simply as Kashmir) has been divided by a ceasefire line or Line of Control (LoC) between sides under Pakistani and Indian control, respectively. Since 1947, India and Pakistan have failed to reach a consensus on the territory of Kashmir. Instead, they have fought three wars (1948, 1965, and 1971), and almost had a nuclear showdown in 1999 (known as the Kargil War). There have been two United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefires, in 1949 and 1965 and 58 United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions (Wheeler, 2010: 319-344). Most recently, the world witnessed another stand-off between the two nuclear arch-rivals in a suicide attack in the Pulwana region on 14 February 2019, in which 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed (Herrara, 2019).

UN peacekeepers have been monitoring the de facto border to this day (UNMOGIP, 2019). The question of self-determination for Kashmir has been a part of the dispute since 1948, when Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, referred the dispute to the UNSC, mentioning a plebiscite as the solution to determine Kashmir’s future. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. India accepted the Instrument of Accession with the caveat that a plebiscite would be held once law and order was re-established. UNSC Resolution 47 of 1948 was passed, noting that “both India and Pakistan desire[d] that the question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite” (UNSCR, 1948).

Our battles are all the same, your battles are my battles, your struggles are my struggles, message to women of Kashmir. Ndileka Mandela.