Anjali Tiwari asked: What should India do to gain control over Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)?

Priyanka Singh replies: There is no such quick fix measure to regain control over PoK, which has been under Pakistan’s illegitimate control since 1947, unless India decides to adopt military method to seize control over the region. What is, therefore, needed is a calibrated strategy that gradually develops India's influence in PoK which continues to reel under political unrest. India needs to employ a variety of measure to begin with - both domestically and externally - which could at a certain stage facilitate translating its stated claim on the region into actual territorial control. Mindful of the fact that PoK has been under Pakistan's control for over seven decades and is now incrementally falling under China's sphere of influence, India must carefully evolve a prudent strategy on PoK that could materialise into territorial claim on the region just as the rest of the Jammu and Kashmir.

For a list of measures that India could adopt to begin with, please refer to my following publication:

“Beyond Cartographic Assertion: A Roadmap on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir”, IDSA Issue Brief, August 01, 2016.

For more on the subject, refer to my other key publications:

• “Re-Positioning Pakistan Occupied Kashmir on India’s Policy Map: Geopolitical Drivers, Strategic Impact”, IDSA Monograph Series No. 62, 2017.
• “Why disclaiming Pakistan occupied Kashmir is not prudent”, IDSA Commentary, December 11, 2017.
• “Inserting PoK into the Kashmir Conundrum”, IDSA Commentary, May 03, 2016.
• “Gilgit Baltistan: Between Hope and Despair”, IDSA Monograph Series No. 14, 2013.

Posted on February 28, 2018