Kashmir Dispute: U.S. Charg  in Pakistan to U.S. Secretary of State, October 28, 1947

845.00/10-2847 Telegram

The [US] Charg  in Pakistan (Lewis) to the [US] Secretary of State

RESTRICTED - Karachi, October 28,1947-11 a.m..

        153. Alleging that [the] GOP has been trying [to] coerce Kashmir [to] join Pakistan by economic strangulation and be [by] sending soldiers in plain clothes and tribesmen from [the] northwest frontier into Kashmir to destroy life and property, the Maharaja has appealed to [the] GOI for assistance and signed on October 27 [an] instrument of accession which was accepted [on the] same day by Mountbatten. However, [the] latter stated in [a] letter [of] acceptance that "as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader, the question of the state's accession should be settled by reference to the people." Meanwhile, Mountbatten added in response [to the] Maharaja's appeal for military aid, troops of [the] Indian army are being sent [to] Kashmir. [The] Maharaja has set up [an] interim govt. under Sheikh Abdullah and this [was] accepted by [the] GOI.

         These developments have created [a] sensation here and will certainly be taken seriously by [the] GOP.
Developments [of] this point [are] summarized [in the] Embassy's despatch 196 October 27 mailed yesterday.

        LEWIS

From: US Department of State.  Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947.  Volume III.  Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1972, 179-180.