The Genesis of the Line Joining NJ 9842 with the Karakoram Pass

India and Pakistan fought their first war over Kashmir soon after independence and it ended with a ceasefire coming into effect on 1 January 1949. Thereafter, talks commenced to delimit, demarcate and delineate a ceasefire line (CFL) between the two sides. On 27 July 1949, under the auspices of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), the Karachi Ceasefire Agreement (CFA)Footnote1 was signed. Even though this agreement delimited the CFL at the glaciers, it was subsequently demarcated only to grid reference NJ 9842, a point lying well short. Maps delineating this line were duly signed and exchanged by both sides and the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was constituted to ensure peace and tranquility around it. As envisaged in the CFA, both India and Pakistan maintained the status quo beyond NJ 9842 since the region was pending mutual demarcation and delineation by the local commanders under the supervision of the UN Observers. Since this region never had any military presence, it remained demilitarized and did not see any action either in 1965 or 1971. The Line of Control, which emerged in 1972 after the Simla Agreement, also terminated at NJ 9842, with neither side pressing for any demarcation beyond it.