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- Abdul Majid Zargar
- Why does India oppose a third party mediation or international interference on Kashmir issue. Firstly India has never really been sure that the world, by and large, accepts the legitimacy of its control over Kashmir. There are other reasons for India's hesitation which have been articulated often by different representatives of the government. Some of these are:
1. That Kashmir being an integral part, is India’s internal issue which brooks no outside interference. The reason that this is reiterated at any given opportunity is essentially because New Delhi worries that the United States might use its might as the world’s superpower to impose a solution to Kashmir.
2. India being a pluristic society is afraid that it might follow the fate of the Soviet Union once it is compelled to offer concessions on Kashmir. Indian elite considers Jammu and Kashmir, the only Indian state where the majority of the population is Muslim, to be the weakest link in a Hindu-majority country.
3. India is also apprehensive that any concessions given to Kashmir will, in turn, open the floodgates for demands in other states.
Are India’s above concerns or apprehensions genuine? - It is therefore in India's interest to engage Pakistan over Kashmir through a third party. Pakistan still reiterates its demand for such mediation on Kashmir, and thus would be hard-pressed to reject this approach.
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