10031949--29  Text of the Letter dated 10 March 1949 from the Secretary-General, Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations. Government of India Mr. G.S. Bajpal addressed the Chairman of the Commission (UN Document No. S/AC.12/TC.2)

10031949--29  Text of the Letter dated 10 March 1949 from the Secretary-General, Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations. Government of India Mr. G.S. Bajpal addressed the Chairman of the Commission (UN Document No. S/AC.12/TC.2)

Our representatives who attended the meeting of the Truce Sub-Committee of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan yesterday have given me a copy of the statement made by the Pakistan delegation. The basic approach of the Pakistan delegation to the truce is so funda mentally opposed to ours and to our understanding of part II of the Commission's resolution of the 13th August that I consider it necessary to explain our position explicitly and at once. In paragraph 6 of the statement the declared objective of the truce arrangements is described as being the creation of "a military balance between the forces on each side". The proposals regarding (a) the strength, training and control of Azad Kashmir forces during the period of the truce and (b) the synchronization of the withdrawal of Pakistan forces with the forces of the Government of India appear to be founded on this assumption. In the first place, the Government of India have never accepted the claim of Pakistan, much less of the so-called Azad Kashmir Government, which has no legal status to equality of rights in the military or any other sphere. The presence of Pakistan troops in any part of Jammu and Kashmir State constitutes an act of aggression and a violation of international law. That the withdrawal of Pakistan troops from the State should in any way be conditional upon or connected with the training, by Pakistan officers, and the subsequent retention, in Azad Kashmir territory, of an Azad Kashmir force of twenty-four battalions plus the personnel of eight battalions as administrative and L. of C. units under a General Officer Commanding appointed by the Commander-in Chief, Pakistan Army, assisted by the requisite number of senior officers selected by G.H.Q. Pakistan under the overall operational and administrative control of Pakistan is a claim which the Government of India cannot consider. Pakistan forces must be withdrawn entirely from Jammu and Kashmir State territory and the disposal of the so-called Azad Kashmir forces during the period of the truce must be so arranged as to prepare the way for the ultimate disbanding and disarming of these forces. Any other arrangement would be a preparation neither for peace nor for a peaceful plebiscite but for the resumption of hostilities. It would also be contrary to the objective stated in paragraph 3 (1) (c) of the Prime Minister's letter dated the 20th August 1948 [S/1100, paragraph 78], and broadly accepted by the Commission, that nothing should be done which would enable the territory evacuated by the Pakistan troops to be consolidated in any way during the period of the truce to the disadvantage of the State. The training and maintenance in this territory of any Azad armed forces at all, and more so, in the strength and under the conditions of command and control proposed by the Pakistan delegation, would be the most effective way of "consolidating" it "to the disadvantage of the State''. The Government of India are prepared to discuss with the Commission the question of the formation of a Civil Armed Force for the maintenance of law and order in Azad Kashmir territory, but both the composition and the character of such a force must be adjusted to this primary purpose and not to the creation of "a military balance between the forces on each side."

As regards the synchronization of the withdrawal of Indian and Pakistan forces envisaged in B. I of part II of the resolution of the 13th August, I must point out that the understanding of the Government of India has all along been that the withdrawal of their forces will begin only after the tribesmen and Pakistan nationals referred to in A. 2 of part II of the resolution have withdrawn, and also the bulk of the Pakistan forces who, as already stated, have no right to be on Jammu and Kashmir State territory. As I have already informed the Commission, the Government of India are prepared to discuss with the Commission the phasing of the withdrawal of their forces after this condition has been fulfilled, at any time that may be convenient to the Commission. But the fulfilment by the Government of Pakistan of the conditions of withdrawal which I have described will be a condition precedent to the implementation by the Government of India of any arrangement that may be reached between them. and the Commission regarding the withdrawal of their own. forces as well as the strength of the forces that are to be left behind in the State.

The statement of Pakistan delegates goes on to make suggestions regarding the withdrawal of Indian forces and the strength of such forces that are to be maintained in Jammu and Kashmir State. B. 1 of part II of the resolution of the 13th August 1948 clearly lays down that the withdrawal of the forces of Government of India from the State is to be in stages to be agreed upon with the Commission. In this connexion, I would invite the attention of the Commission to paragraph 4 of the letter of the Prime Minister of India to Mr. Korbel, dated the 20th August 1948 [S/1100, paragraph 78], in which it is stated that "the time when the withdrawal of Indian forces from the State is to begin, the stages in which it is to be carried out and the strength of Indian forces to be retained in the State, are matters for settlement between the Commission and the Government of India". The Government of India stand by this arrangement, which was accepted by the Commission in Mr. Korbel's letter to the Prime Minister, dated the 25th August 1948 [S/1100, paragraph 81]. It follows that the Government of India does not propose to comment upon the proposals made in the Pakistan statement regarding the withdrawal of Indian troops from the Jammu and Kashmir State.

In conclusion, I wish to state that the Government of India are as anxious as the Commission to go forward, as rapidly as possible, with the finalization of a truce agreement. It is quite clear to them, however, that this task will be impossible of accomplishment on the basis of the proposals of the Pakistan delegation discussed in the preceding paragraphs of this letter.

(Signed) G.S. Bajpai