A ceasefire, also spelled cease fire, is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state actors or involve non-state actors.
The Karachi Agreement of 1949 was signed by the military representatives of India and Pakistan, supervised by the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan, establishing a cease-fire line in Kashmir following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. It established a cease-fire line which has been monitored by United Nations observers from the United Nations since then.
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan and also between China and India in northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a dispute over the region that escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes. India controls approximately 55% of the land area of the region that includes Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, most of Ladakh, the Siachen Glacier, and 70% of its population; Pakistan controls approximately 30% of the land area that includes Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; and China controls the remaining 15% of the land area that includes the Aksai Chin region, the mostly uninhabited Trans-Karakoram Tract, and part of the Demchok sector.
The following is a timeline of the Kashmir conflict, a territorial conflict between India, Pakistan and, to a lesser degree, China. India and Pakistan have been involved in four wars and several border skirmishes over the issue.
The United Nations has played an advisory role in maintaining peace and order in the Kashmir region soon after the independence and partition of British India into the dominions of Pakistan and India in 1947, when a dispute erupted between the two new States on the question of accession over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. India took this matter to the UN Security Council, which passed resolution 39 (1948) and established the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate the issues and mediate between the two new countries. Following the cease-fire of hostilities, it also established the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to monitor the cease-fire line.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 39, adopted on January 20, 1948, offered to assist in the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir Conflict by setting up a commission of three members; one to be chosen by India, one to be chosen by Pakistan and the third to be chosen by the other two members of the commission. The commission was to write a joint letter advising the Security Council on what course of action would be best to help further peace in the region.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 47, adopted on 21 April 1948, concerns the resolution of the Kashmir conflict. After hearing arguments from both India and Pakistan, the Council increased the size of the UN Commission created by the former Resolution 39 to five members, instructed the Commission to go to the subcontinent and help the governments of India and Pakistan restore peace and order to the region and prepare for a plebiscite to decide the fate of Kashmir.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 80, adopted on March 14, 1950, having received the reports of the Commission for India and Pakistan, as well as a report from General A. G. L. McNaughton, the Council commended India and Pakistan for their compliance with the ceasefire and for the demilitarization of Jammu and Kashmir and agreement on Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as the future Plebiscite Administrator.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 91, adopted on March 30, 1951, noting a report by Sir Owen Dixon, the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan, stating that the main point of difference of preparing the state of Jammu and Kashmir for the holding of a plebiscite were as follows; the procedure for and extent of demilitarization, the degree of control over the exercise of the functions of government necessary to ensure a free and fair plebiscite.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 98, adopted on December 23, 1952, urged the Governments of India and Pakistan to enter into immediate negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan in order to reach an agreement on the specific number of troops to remain of each side of the cease-fire line at the end of the previously established period of demilitarization. As proposed by the UN Representative this number was to be between 6000 Azad forces and 3500 Gilgit and northern scouts on the Pakistani side and 18000 Indian forces and 6000 local state forces on the Indian side. The resolution then thanked the UN Representative for his efforts, requested the Governments of India and Pakistan report to the Council no later than 30 days after the adoption of this resolution and asked the UN Representative to keep the Council informed of any progress.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 122 was adopted on the 24 January 1957 and concerned the dispute between the governments of India and Pakistan over the territories of Jammu and Kashmir. It was the first of three security resolutions in 1957 to deal with the dispute between the countries. The resolution declares that the assembly proposed by the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference could not constitute a solution to the problem as defined in United Nations Security Council Resolution 91 which had been adopted almost six years earlier.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 123 was adopted on February 21, 1957 after the conflict over Jammu and Kashmir intensified. The council requested that the President of the Security Council visit the subcontinent and, along with the governments of India and Pakistan, examine any proposals which were likely to contribute to the resolution of the dispute. The council requested that he report back to them no later than April 15, and the resulting report formed the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 126, which was adopted in December of the same year.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 126 was adopted on 2 December 1957. It was the last of three resolutions passed during 1957 to deal with the dispute between the governments of India and Pakistan over the territories of Jammu and Kashmir. It followed a report on the situation by Gunnar Jarring, representative for Sweden which the council had requested in resolution 123. It requests that the governments of India and Pakistan refrain from aggravating the situation, and instructs the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan to visit the subcontinent and report to the council with recommended action toward further progress.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 215, adopted on November 5, 1965, after the cease-fire called for in resolutions 209, 210, 211 and 214 and agreed to by India and Pakistan failed to materialize, the Council demanded that representatives of India and Pakistan meet with a representative of the Secretary-General to purpose schedules for the withdrawals. The Council urged this meeting to take place as soon as possible and requested the Secretary-General to submit a report on compliance with this resolution.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 303, adopted on December 6, 1971, after a lack of unanimity at the 1606th and 1607th meetings of the Council prevented it from exercising its primary responsibility, the Council decided to refer the question to the General Assembly.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 307, adopted on December 21, 1971, after hearing statements from India and Pakistan, the Council demanded that a durable cease-fire be observed until withdrawals could take place to respect the cease-fire line in Jammu and Kashmir. The council also called for international assistance in the relief of suffering and rehabilitation of refugees as well as their return home and a request for the Secretary-General to keep the council informed on developments.
Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was a body of representatives elected in 1951 to formulate the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. The Constituent Assembly was dissolved on 26 January 1957, based on Mir Qasim resolution it adopted and ratified on 17 November 1956.
Pakistan officially joined the United Nations (UN) on 30 September 1947 just over a month after it came into existence. Today, it is a charter member and participates in all of the UN's specialised agencies and organisations. Pakistan has been elected seven times into the UN Security Council, with the most recent term in 2013. It is also one of the countries which has had a diplomat, Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, serve a term as the President of the United Nations General Assembly.
The history of Azad Kashmir, a part of the Kashmir region administered by Pakistan, is related to the history of the Kashmir region during the Dogra rule. Azad Kashmir borders the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south and west respectively, Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, and the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the east.
Elections for the Constituent Assembly of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held in September–October 1951. Sheikh Abdullah was appointed Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Following frictions with various groups such as the Jammu Praja Parishad agitation, Abdullah was dismissed in August 1953 and imprisoned. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was appointed as the next Prime Minister.
