Summary:
The genuine answer is "any discussion is pointless."
Some background is essential to an undersatdning of why the answer to the question is as it is.
The core factor is that the dispute between Indian and Pakistan over Kashmir is a "holy war".
When India was divided into India & Pakistan in 1948, essentially on religious grounds, over 1 million people of all religious beliefs died for no other reason than that their beliefs were not acceptable to some others.
The Sultan of Kashmir chose (as he was told that he was entitled to do) for Kashmir to be an independent state. Immediately after partition Kashmir was raided by people who carried out violent and bloody warfare, very largely against innocent helpless Kashmiris whose beliefs were not acceptable to them.
Failure by the Indian & Pakistani governments to control the violence as well as they were capable of doing resulted in more unrest, more killings (of people of both major religious beliefs) and the loss of a possible opportunity to carry out a referendum of Kashimr's residents. The subsequent driving out of people entitled to be in Kashmir and influx of people whose views were predictable based on their origins, destroyed any possibility of a reasoned decision by the people concerned.
Subsequent geographical divisions and related decisions have not in any way addressed the now unaddressable core issues. NO decision except total assignment of Kashmir to Pakistan or India is acceptable to India or Pakistan.
The only acceptable solution for either party is that (from below)
The holy land must be regained.
The enemy must be defeated.
There is no other way.
SO In that context any attempts by world leaders, diplomats, persons of influence (or anyone else) are irrelevancies. Those who might choose to be involved are well enough aware of the 'impossiblity by definition' of their quest that their actions and attempts may sometimes be seen as being as token as they necessarily are.
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"DETAIL"
This is the short clear version :-) :-(.
If you think that you can leave any of the following out and still have any feel for the situation, beyond perhaps pure burning holy vicious hatred, you may be in for a surprise.
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And the great country of India rove itself asunder into two nations.
And, in the process, over a million of their number perished at each others hands, because it must be so.
And behold, all the little kingdoms and Sultanates and the like were told
- That they must choose to whom they should give their allegiance
OR
- That they might remain independent.
But, it was not true.
And behold, the most holy sultanate of Kashmir declared that it would remain independent.
And on the appointed day, it was so.
And the border people's of what was now Pakistan poured across the border into Kashmir and raped and pillaged and killed and drove out and carried off - goods and people both, they carried them away.
Those who were Hindu's fled or perished.
Some of those who were not Hindu perished as well.
And the border people's carried back much booty and people into the land whence they had come.
And both of the new nations on Kashmir's borders sat on their thumbs and watched.
(Much as the nations of the world did during the great time of sorrow in Rwanda,
and during the time of great madness in Cambodia (when at last the Vietnamese broke rank and put things to right), and as happens now in eg "West Papua" [tm].
For India to have acted unilaterally against the border people's,
may have been seen as an act of war.
For Pakistan to have acted against their own border peoples,
may have been seen like a really really good idea.
But, they didn't.
The looting rapine, murdering and carrying off continued.
After some days the Sultan of the most holy independent land of Kashmir appealed to India for assistance. And India replied, perhaps not ideally, but understandably
"If you want to live, come with me".
And Kashmir, having no real choice, went with India.
And India assisted Kashmir and the looting pillaging rapine and enslaving were terminated.
And lo, it was "game on".
And there were discussions and divisions and offers. And a referendum of the people of Kashmir was suggested. And India, surprisingly, agreed. But India, not too surprisingly, set terms relating to the removal of the post independence influx of Muslims into Kashmir before a referendum was held. But no action was taken by all when the opportunity presented. And there were massacres and driving outs and populations adjustments.
Hindu & Muslim, suffered they both.
And the opportunity for a referendum of the original people of Kashmir was lost with the killing, driving and mixing ups.
And so it was set in stone.
The land most holy must be wrested from the enemy.
There is no other bottom line.
It matters not
- What other nations say,
- what diplomats war-by-other-means war over,
- what honest-brokers propose
All this is of no relevance.
Until the still hour is come of the sea tumbling in harness the hatred and suspicion and death of brotherhood shall continue.
When election time draws near in India, the banners shall be waved and the divisions shall be made more divided, but these are but ripples on the surface of the fundamental issue -
The holy land must be regained.
The enemy must be defeated.
There is no other way.
All the above is believed to be based on historically accurate "facts".
I'h happy to modify any statement that there is a clear factual contradictory evidence on.
Opinion, disagreement and varied perspectives are all part of the territory in areas such as this.