KASHMIR TALKING AT LAST THE BRITISH RAJ, WHICH ONCE CONTROLLED INDIA'S NORTHWEST 
FRONTIER PROVINCE OF KASHMIR, EXACTED A TOKEN ANNUAL TRIBUTE OF TWO 
KASHMIRI SHAWLS AND THREE HANDKERCHIEFS FROM THE MAHARAJAH . NEVER SINCE 
HAS THE PRICE OF PEACE BEEN AS SMALL . IN THE 
YEARS AFTER INDEPENDENCE IN 1947 SPLIT THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT INTO THE 
SOVEREIGN STATES OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN, THE TWO NATIONS HAVE PAID 
WITH STRIFE AND BLOODSHED TO ESTABLISH THEIR CONFLICTING CLAIMS OVER THE 
DISPUTED REGION . LAST WEEK, AFTER 15 YEARS OF BITTER WRANGLING, 
INDIAN AND PAKISTANI DELEGATES FINALLY MET IN THE PAKISTAN CAPITAL OF 
RAWALPINDI TO SEEK A SOLUTION TO THE KASHMIR PROBLEM . THE 
DISPUTED LAND IS THE SIZE OF MINNESOTA, LAKES AND ALL . 
IT FALLS FROM THE WINDWHIPPED MOUNTAINS OF GILGIT AND LADAKH IN 
THE NORTH TO THE IDYLLIC VALE OF KASHMIR . IN THE 
HIMALAYAS, PRIMITIVE MOUNTAIN TRIBESMEN KEEP HERDS OF GRACEFUL, SURE-FOOTED KASHMIR GOATS, 
WHOSE SOFT FLEECE BECOMES THE CASHMERE OF FIFTH AVENUE AND REGENT 
STREET ; THE COOL LAKES NEAR KASHMIR'S CAPITAL CITY OF SRINAGAR 
ARE DOTTED WITH THE ELEGANT HOUSEBOATS OF WEALTHY INDIANS . VOW 
FORGOTTEN . AT THE TIME OF PARTITION, KASHMIR, LIKE ALL OF 
INDIA'S 562 PRINCELY STATES, WAS GIVEN THE CHOICE OF JOINING EITHER 
PAKISTAN OR INDIA . THE FACT THAT 77 PER CENT OF 
KASHMIR'S 4,200,000 PEOPLE WERE MOSLEM POINTED TO CONTROL BY MOSLEM PAKISTAN 
. BUT THOUGH HE HAD SIGNED PRELIMINARY TRADE AND ADMINISTRATIVE AGREEMENTS 
WITH PAKISTAN, KASHMIR'S HINDU MAHARAJAH BEGAN TO HEDGE . ANGERED BY 
HIS FAILURE TO ACCEDE TO PAKISTAN, HORDES OF PAKISTANI " VOLUNTEERS 
" SWEPT INTO KASHMIR TO ESTABLISH PAKISTAN'S CLAIM TO THE LAND 
. IN TERROR, THE HINDU RULER OPTED TO JOIN INDIA, APPEALED 
FOR IMMEDIATE MILITARY AID . INDIA WAS HAPPY TO RESPOND, AIRLIFTED 
TROOPS INTO KASHMIR TO FORTIFY ITS OWN CLAIM . THUS BEGAN 
A FULL-SCALE WAR IN KASHMIR . INDIA WENT TO THE UNITED 
NATIONS FOR RELIEF . IN 1949 THE U.N . DEMARCATED A 
CEASE-FIRE LINE THAT GAVE INDIA THE RICHEST TWO-THIRDS OF KASHMIR, INCLUDING 
MOST OF LADAKH, THE VALE, AND THE PREDOMINANTLY HINDU AREA OF 
JAMMU . BUT INDIA'S PRIME MINISTER JAWAHARLAL NEHRU HAD PLEDGED THAT 
" THE FATE OF KASHMIR MUST ULTIMATELY BE DECIDED BY ITS 
PEOPLE . " DECLARED NEHRU : " WE ARE PREPARED, WHEN 
PEACE, LAW AND ORDER HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED, TO HAVE A REFERENDUM 
UNDER SOME INTERNATIONAL AUSPICES LIKE THE U.N . " NEHRU SOON 
FORGOT THAT VOW, FOR IT BECAME OBVIOUS THAT KASHMIR WOULD VOTE 
EITHER FOR INDEPENDENCE OR ACCESSION TO PAKISTAN . INDIAN KASHMIR'S MOSLEM 
RULER, SHEIK MOHAMMED ABDULLAH, AN OLD FRIEND OF NEHRU'S AND A 
FIERY KASHMIRI NATIONALIST, CONFUSED THINGS BY STARTING TO PROMOTE A LOCAL 
INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT . INDIA CLAPPED SHEIK ABDULLAH INTO JAIL IN 1953 
AND INTRODUCED A SERIES OF REPRESSIVE MEASURES TO HALT OTHER NATIONALIST 
OR PROPAKISTAN MOVEMENTS . EXCEPT FOR THREE MONTHS IN 1958, SHEIK 
ABDULLAH HAS LANGUISHED IN PRISON EVER SINCE, WAS LAST WEEK ON 
TRIAL ON CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT . NUDGE 
FROM THE NORTH . THE IMPRISONMENT OF SHEIK ABDULLAH SYMBOLIZED ALL 
OF PAKISTAN'S DEEP DISTRUST OF NEHRU . DESPITE HIS OUTWARD DEVOTION 
TO THE U.N., NO AMOUNT OF U.N . PRESSURE COULD BRING 
NEHRU TO THE BARGAINING TABLE WITH PAKISTAN OVER KASHMIR . BUT 
WHEN RED CHINA THRUST DEEP INTO INDIA'S HIMALAYAN BORDERLAND LAST OCTOBER, 
NEHRU RELUCTANTLY YIELDED TO THE INSISTENT ENVOYS OF THE U.S . 
AND BRITAIN WHO SUGGESTED THAT UNLESS INDIA AND PAKISTAN SETTLED THEIR 
DIFFERENCES, THERE WOULD BE LITTLE HOPE OF DEFENDING THE SUBCONTINENT AGAINST 
CHINESE AGGRESSION . HOTHEADED EXTREMISTS IN BOTH COUNTRIES OPPOSED THE IDEA 
OF TALKS . KASHMIR IS NOT FOR SALE, SCREAMED AN INDIAN 
HEADLINE ; IN PAKISTAN'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, POLITICIANS ARGUED THAT COMMUNISM WAS 
FAR LESS AN EVIL THAN " HINDU DOMINATION . " WHERE 
WAS THE ROOM FOR NEGOTIATION ? OFFICIALLY PAKISTAN MAINTAINED THAT AN 
OVERALL PLEBISCITE IS THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM . BUT 
PRIVATELY PAKISTAN HAS FALLBACK POSITIONS, IS WILLING TO HOLD REGIONAL REFERENDUMS 
THAT WOULD GIVE INDIA BOTH JAMMU AND LADAKH . THE REAL 
ISSUE, HOWEVER, WAS KASHMIR'S VALE . PAKISTAN SEEMED AGREEABLE TO THE 
INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE IMPORTANT REGION . NEHRU, HOWEVER, FEARED THAT SECESSION 
OF ANY PART OF KASHMIR WOULD ENCOURAGE SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS IN OTHER 
INDIAN STATES WITH STRONG NATIONALIST TENDENCIES . NEVERTHELESS, INDIAN OFFICIALS SHOWED 
UP IN RAWALPINDI FOR THE START OF NEGOTIATIONS LAST WEEK . 
THEY WERE PREPARED FOR ALMOST ANY SURPRISE BUT THE ONE THAT 
ACTUALLY ARRIVED . ON THE EVE OF THE CONFERENCE, PAKISTAN SUDDENLY 
ANNOUNCED AN AGREEMENT " IN PRINCIPLE " WITH RED CHINA FOR 
A COMPLETE SETTLEMENT OF THEIR MUTUAL BORDER DIFFERENCES . TO THE 
INDIANS IT WAS A STUNNING BLOW, FOR IT SEEMED THAT THE 
PAKISTANIS WERE DELIBERATELY USING THE CHINESE BOGEYMAN TO BLACKMAIL THEM INTO 
YIELDING BETTER TERMS ON THE KASHMIR QUESTION . AFTER TWO DAYS 
OF NO PROGRESS, THE RAWALPINDI TALKS WERE ADJOURNED FOR THREE WEEKS 
. 