The geographical location of Kashmir was crucial for China, too, along with Pakistan, and the Indian government realised this. In 1949, the Communists had won the civil war in China. They had captured Tibet and Xinjiang. Ladakh neighboured Xinjiang though its precise boundaries had not been determined till then. China now began interfering in the Ladakh region. According to many scholars, the fact that Nehru did not react harshly enough to the closure of the Indian Consulate in Xinjiang in 1950 was a lost opportunity in the strategy of neutralizing China. The Five-year Agreement (also known as the Panchsheel Agreement or Sino-Indian Agreement), singed in 1954, was an effort to amend the troubled relations between India and China. The aim of the Panchsheel Agreement was to ensure that both nations respect each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. That they do not interfere in one another’s internal affairs.

But China entered Ladakh again in 1962. It wanted to construct a road in Ladakh which would connect Xinjiang and Tibet. The Indian Army fought and lost. Ceasefire was declared after a month. China had by then occupied Aksai Chin. It is important to note that in 1959 India had provided asylum to the Dalai Lama, which added to the tensions between India and China.

There were of course tensions with Pakistan, the use of the waters of the Indus River being one reason for these. The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, however, did not prevent aggression from Pakistan five years later, when it launched “Operation Gibraltar”. Both the Pakistan Army personnel and the Mujahids were part of this operation. They wanted to provoke Kashmiri Muslims into taking up arms. Pakistan had hoped that the new generation of Kashmiris would be with them, but this didn’t happen. Pakistan believed that agitated by India’s betrayal and military presence in Kashmir the region’s Muslims would become an instrument in their design. The locals in fact helped capture the Pakistani intruders. Pakistan lost the battle. Ceasefire was declared by both nations after the United Nations Security Council intervened, though a large chunk of Kashmir had gone to Pakistan and China by now.

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The India-Pakistan war and the changing political scenario compelled the central government to declare Jammu and Kashmir an “integral part” of India. The Kashmir issue had become a rallying point for the nationalists in India. And the lack of a conclusive settlement deepened political dissatisfaction in Kashmir. No politician has shown the sensitivity Nehru did in dealing with the issue since the latter’s death on 27 May 1964. Only Atal Bihari Vajpayee could be considered an exception to this. In January 1971, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) hijacked a flight en route to Jammu from Srinagar and took it to Lahore. JKLF was a separatist organisation (currently banned) founded by Maqbool Bhat (1938-1984). There is an interesting story on the hijacking. Hashim Qureshi, who hijacked the plane, was an agent of both the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of India. He was trained to hijack a plane in Pakistan, and when India’s Border Security Force (BSF) caught him, he revealed his plan. The RAW asked him to go forth with the plan. The plane was hijacked using a fake pistol and a grenade.

In Lahore, Hashim Qureshi was given a warm welcome by the prime minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The passengers were sent to India via Amritsar and the plane was set on fire. But this charade gave India a chance to take action against Pakistan. The Awami League had recently won the election in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which led to military action against the League, initiated by Pakistan’s chief of army staff. Mujibur Rahman was prevented from becoming the prime minister and massive protests began in East Pakistan against Pakistan. A distressed East Pakistan was not good for India, and making a case out of the hijacking it came out in support of Bangladesh’s demand for freedom.

In retaliation for the hijacking, India closed its airspace for Pakistani planes. With this closure, it became hard for the Pakistan Army to reach East Pakistan. The violence that took place led many people from East Pakistan to immigrate to India. The latter began providing resources to the freedom fighters of Bangladesh to resist Pakistan. This became the cause of the third India-Pakistan war. The new nation of Bangladesh was formed not long after. Eventually, in July 1972, a peace agreement was signed between India and Pakistan known as the Simla Agreement.

Many people, including Kashmiris, believe that the Simla Agreement of 1972 afforded Indira Gandhi an exceptional opportunity to resolve the Kashmir issue. She was considered a strong leader both inside and outside India. But political turmoil continued in Kashmir. A feeling emerged that India was not serious about resolving the Kashmir issue. An old man on the banks of the Dal Lake reminisced to me in 2018, “A common idea among Kashmiris was that the India-Pakistan war of 1971 was India’s conspiracy. They believed that by separating Bangladesh from Pakistan, India had attacked Muslim unity. Political dissatisfaction was making Kashmiris sympathetic to Pakistan.”

Excerpted with permission from Lal Chowk: The Story of The Ongoing Conflict Between New Delhi and Kashmir, Rohin Kumar, translated from the Hindi by Dharmesh Chaubey, Speaking Tiger Books.