A Plan for Kashmir
The new plan for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute *hick the Security Council has prepared is probably as reasonable as any international body could have devised. Unfortunately it by no means follows that its acceptance by India or Pakistan is at all probable. While both States accept in principle the idea of a plebiscite, their mutual suspicion is so intense that there is little chance of agree- ment on the conditions in which a fair plebiscite could be held. The Security Council's plan provides, as far as it can, for these suspicions to be allayed. The ultimate authority conducting the plebiscite is to be the United Nations, and the representative on the spot, an officer appointed by the Secretary-General, acting under authority of the Government of Kashmir State. For the period of the plebiscite this Government would be broadened to include political groups other than, as at present, the supporters of Sheikh Abdullah alone. As soon as the Moslem tribesmen are proved to be withdrawing from State territory, Indian troops are to begin their withdrawal, leaving behind during the period of the plebiscite only a minimum, and those inconspicuously placed. Obviously under such arrangements a plebiscite could be carried out which would be as fair as is possible in a semi-literate area such as Kashmir. The trouble is that India and Pakistan both have everything at stake over Kashmir ; they both have a foot in the door, and neither is prepared to withdraw his foot an inch in case the door should slam in his face for ever.
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