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dated April 3, 1956: The real issue in Kashmir

Prime Minister Nehru declared at a press conference in New Delhi on April 2 that India's security was directly involved in considering the Kashmir dispute. India's defence also had been brought into the picture by US military aid to Pakistan which had completely altered the political and military character of the dispute. Mr. Nehru agreed with a questioner that the inference drawn from his earlier statement that he was not keen on a plebiscite in Kashmir was largely correct. Discussions on the requisites for a plebiscite led to no results during the last seven or eight years. He had, therefore, suggested a practical approach to the problem. The first issue to be noted was who committed aggression in Kashmir. The second was whether Kashmir's accession to India was legally and constitutionally complete. Mr. Nehru left no doubt in any one's mind that India would now insist on a definite declaration over the issue of aggression. Refuting the observations of the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr. Nehru said talk of genocide and about Junagadh was entirely irrelevant for a consideration of the Kashmir problem. Pakistan had deliberately raised them to confuse world opinion as to the real issue involved. The world should remember that for a few days before Indian soldiers set foot on Kashmir territory it was the people of Srinagar who raised a voluntary force to resist the tribal invaders, who were aided, abetted and supplied with arms by Pakistan. The Prime Minister said he had dealt with the question of Kashmir fully in his speech in the Lok Sabha and he was glad he had done so because of the enormous amount of confusion about the facts. "One can understand differences in interpretation, but there are certain basic facts to be recognised and I repeated them on that occasion."

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