Finally, on the advice of the British and against the advice of his Indian Commanders Nehru accepted a cease-fire. It is, possibly, the only case in the entire history where the winning forces were stopped, for no reason what so ever, and in the interest of a foreign power, and with no quid pro quo. The Army, i.e., General Kulwant, the over all commander in Kashmir, had asked for only 21 days to evict the Pakistanis out of Kashmir, i.e., Jhelum and Krishan Ganga Valleys. But Nehru, on advice of Mountbatten, was not biting. In fact the High Commissioner for United Kingdom even fed Nehru reports questioning the capability of the Indian Commanders and the troops. The same High Commissioner then reported to the British Government, " I hope by making these various representations to Nehru, it will be possible to bring home to him that there is no military solution to this problem and the sooner he turns his mind to a political compromise , (emphasis added) the better.

After the Cease-fire, Nehru was once again advised by the Army, that he should go ahead with a plebiscite/referendum in the Indian portion of Kashmir. The Pakistani atrocities were too fresh in the minds of the Kashmiris. The verdict would have gone in favour of India. Nehru again, on the advise of the British refused. This perpetuated the conflict, as the British desired.

The struggle now shifted to the halls of United Nations' Organisation. In the meantime the struggle between the United States of America and the capitalist countries of the West on one side and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics led Communist bloc on the other boiled over. Since Nehru refused to lead India into the American camp, the United States of America automatically classified India as unfriendly. In addition, the Americans had also been eyeing the Indian markets. Nehru's economic policy closed the American access to them. This further antagonised the Americans. With the American antagonism, backed by a majority in the Security Council, India was forced into the Russian arms which made her dependent on the Russian Veto. In turn, this made America tilt still further towards Pakistan, as she accepted American assistance in return for her joining the American led 'Cordon Sanitaire' around the Communist bloc. The affair in the United Nations' Organisation automatically turned partisan.

rest of the article is at http://members.tripod.com/israindia/kashmir-locus4.html

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