Legally, Kashmir has gone through three phases. The first phase was multilateral, starting with the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947. Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir asked for Indian assistance to control the Poonch uprising, but India agreed to help if he signed the Instrument of Accession, which he did, creating the first legal impediment for Pakistan.

Thereafter, India and Pakistan signed the First Karachi Agreement in July 1949, establishing a Ceasefire Line, monitored by UN observers, and a formal ceasefire was declared on 1st January 1949.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 39 established a commission for the purpose of peaceful dispute resolution. UNSC Resolution 47 increased the size of the commission and proposed a three-step process. In the first step, Pakistan would withdraw completely from Kashmir, and in the second step, India would reduce its forces.

The third step was appointing a plebiscite administrator nominated by the UN. Thereafter, UNSC Resolution 51 was adopted, and under UNSC Resolution 80, Pakistan and India were to simultaneously demilitarise Kashmir.

In the Second Karachi Agreement of 1949, the Azad Kashmir Government ceded to Pakistan complete control of Gilgit-Baltistan’s defence, foreign affairs, and communications. In the Sino-Pakistan Agreement of 1963, Pakistan accepted China’s sovereignty over the Shaksgam Valley, raising the question of whether this........

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