Dealing with a rogue neighbour (Kashmir and the Pakistan problem)

The Kashmir issue has remained a thorn in Pakistan’s flesh as the very name of the country was supposed to be an acronym for the regions that it would include. Pakistan supposedly stood for p =Punjab, A=Afghanistan, K =Kashmir, Istan for Balochistan. Thus, the region of East Bengal was not a part of the original scheme of things. But as history would have it, Raja Hari Singh of Kashmir decided to remain independent and did not merge with India or Pakistan. This was a big blow to Jinnah’s scheme in which the Muslim-majority Kashmir was considered to be a natural inclusion of the newly born nation.
On one hand, East Pakistan was far apart from the Mainland and posed a tactical challenge in maintaining harmony between the two regions, widely apart in Language, culture and religious make, as Hindus constituted a sizable minority about 22% in 1947, on the other Jinnah’s dream of having Kashmir to himself also received a rude jolt due to Hari Singh’s decision to remain an independent state.
So, Jinnah decided upon a clandestine military operation with the help of the Pathan tribals to take Kashmir by hook or crook. This resulted in the first war between the two newly emerged countries. The issue has not been resolved till date and has dashed all hopes of normal relations between the two countries.
This paper would take a look at the historical events leading to the Kashmir conflict and try to analyse how the conflict has kept the South Asian subcontinent on the edge since the partition of 1947.