Mission Viejo High School Model United Nations
33rd Annual Conference
“Orbis Unum"
4th SPD: Indo-Pakistani Military Confrontation
My name is Delaney Lindahl, and I am going to be your Vice Chair at the MVHSMUN 2016
conference! I am a junior at Mission, and I have been in MUN for two years now. I am a huge fan of
debating, attending conferences, and I can’t wait to meet all of you! At Mission, I am a part of ASB,
MUN, the AP Program, and many more things. On my own time I play club soccer, work at Bowl Of
Heaven, and hang out with friends as much as possible. I cannot wait to meet all of you guys planning on
attending the MVHS MUN conference! If you have questions, feel free to email us at
[email protected]
I. Background:
Ever since the creation of the two separate republics of India and Pakistan in South Asia,
these two countries have been included in numerous border disputes and four wars. After World
War II, the Partition of British India caused a lot of economic stress. Many influential leaders
agree that the partition should have resulted in peaceful relations between the two countries of
Pakistan and Hindustan. The Hindu and Muslim populations were splattered throughout the
entire country, making it impossible to divide states through religious means. When both India
and Pakistan claimed the Kashmir territory, most fighting begins to surface. India and Pakistan
have been in an abnormal amount of disagreement over the issue of who gets control of the
Kashmir territory. Three out of the four wars between these two countries have been over
Kashmir, the exception being the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 in which the problem was another
border dispute over Bangladesh. The first of the four wars was the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947
(First Kashmir War) which was a border war over the claiming of Kashmir, followed by The
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, being another war over the controlling of Kashmir and Jammu),
next was the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 (Bangladesh Liberation War) which did not have any
disputes over Kashmir, but was a political battle between East Pakistani leader Sheikh Mujib
and West Pakistan. The last war was the Indo-Pakistani War of 1999 (Kargil War), which was
yet again over the territory of Kashmir. Other than these wars, there have been 17 different
standoffs, nuclear arms races, skirmishes, incidents, and standing armed conflicts. These could
be anywhere from simple military standoffs to terrorist attacks on civilians, just as in the
Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. Other countries have decided in the past to step in and
attempt to help one side or the other. The Soviet Union has remained neutral and has been very
important in keeping the peace between India and Pakistan. The USA had little involvement
other than a slight military support in the 1971 War to Pakistan, and then aid to the Pakistani
government in order to help end hostilities. China gave Pakistan a lot of diplomatic and military
aid. Lastly, Russia helped negotiate a peace in an effort to make lighter of the 2008 crisis
between the two countries. The wars and disputes between India and Pakistan have become a
center of all art forms ranging from various TV shows such as Alpha Bravo Charlie to movies
such as Deewar. Near the end of the war (December 17 1971), the Security Council of the UN
sent in a demand that asked for a long lasting cease-fire in Jammu and Kashmir called the
Karachi Agreement. This was initially agreed to by India and Pakistan, however later ignored.
That is why this committee needs to be focused on creating a STOP to the violent outbreaks
occurring in India and Pakistan.
Mission Viejo High School Model United Nations
rd Annual Conference
II. Past UN33
Involvement:
“Orbis Unum"
Various ideas have been discussed pertaining to the Indo-Pakistani Conflict in meetings held
by the United Nations. Ideas thrown around contained some such as having both nations
cooperating in peace free of ideological confrontations. Sadly, though, these ideas were thrown
aside. The Security Council of the UN has made four resolutions (47, 91, 209, 307). Resolutions
discussed in these are such as placing a Military Watch Group on the border of India and
Pakistan to reduce military confrontation and hopefully build up a more sense of security to
those who follow the ideas of their government. The first team of the United Nations Military
Observer Group in India and Pakistan are unarmed military observers who arrived in January of
1949 to simply watch over the fighting brewing between the two countries. They acted in
Kashmir in order to assist the Advisor of Military to the United Nations Commission for India
and Pakistan. After the hostiles at the end of 1971, an agreement to stop fighting was put into
place by the two countries. This agreement was later informed to the Secretary General, and
then the Watch Group was ordered to stay in India/Pakistan to mandate all functions and assist in
making military, economic, social and political decisions. There have also been 6 letters sent
between the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council in which they discuss
the importance of this issue and the setback it is beginning to cause on the world, which we still
wait to see any kind of step forward or big changes resulting in these letter exchanges. The lack
of NGO's in this conflict is something that must be acted on immediately. Delegates should
consider this when writing their own position papers.
III. Solutions:
Solutions this committee should be working toward need to be specific, taking into account the
amount of nationalism each region has and taking into account the bloody and intense pasts of
these nations. The UN's military watch group was a fantastic one to set in place and very
necessary in keeping both civilians in each state safe and well protected. However, the lack of
NGO's the UN has produced is shocking, this topic is one that is of high importance and needs to
be taken up with the utmost thought. One possible solution to ending the Indo-Pakistani
Military Confrontation is to set an actual boundary for the Kashmir area. Due to the fact that 3
out of 4 wars have been pertaining to the Kashmir land that needs to be this committee's number
one priority in sorting out. Half of Kashmir could be given to Pakistan and half to India, and
hopefully that would end a decent amount of conflicts very simply. However, because the
conflicts have been going on for so long now they are somewhat of a way of life. So many
civilians and military personnel are so adapted to the idea of a war always being on the verge on
breaking free that once the disputes stop rebel groups will break out and rise against another state
just because they need the violence in their lives. Leaving the already placed Military Watch
Program in India and Pakistan keeps all civilians further protected and will help the military not
do anything that either country would regret. Lastly, there should be political leaders and
alliances that are dedicated to helping India and Pakistan separately. India and Pakistan are both
very new countries, they are still trying to learn how to handle everything. By giving them each a
"Big Buddy" (or a larger country to depend on such as the US, Russia, etc.) it will give them a
path to follow so they aren't just blindly guessing what is right and what is wrong, what works
and what does not. Please, delegates, be creative in your possible solutions and think of more
NGO's and positive reinforcement to send to India and Pakistan!
Mission Viejo High School Model United Nations
33rd Annual
Conference
IV. Country
Bloc Positions:
“Orbis Unum"
Western- have given a decent amount of aid whether it be political or military to Pakistan,
however are attempting to stay mildly neutral.
Latin- Stays neutral in the topic and attempts at working on its own problems.
Middle Eastern- Having been in the heat of all of the confrontations, they are actively looking
for a way to cease all fighting and are open to try most positive ideas.
Asian- staying mostly neutral, however aiding Pakistan with militia.
African- Little to no involvement in the matter, attempting at staying neutral.
V. Guiding Questions
1. What is the basis of all the problems here?
2. What actions should to UN be placing in order to fix these problems?
3. What will happen if a solution is brought up to help mend these broken states after they have
gone through such long periods of fighting?
4. What ways will you fund an NGO that delegates might think up?
5. What ways could we protect more innocent civilian lives and stop further killings from
happening?
6. What can be done for those who have suffered losing a loved or close one to the IndoPakistani conflict?
VI. Sources
www.un.org
www.nato.int
www.globalpolicy.com
http://www.academia.edu/824927/Possible_Solutions_to_Kashmir_Conflict
http://search.listchack.com/results.html?v=gim730980002&t=1506&r=bbe37fbc793b6054db76c
0b14c83199c&rst=156&z=3&spt=ext&q=possible%2Bsolutions%2Bfor%2Bthe%2Bi
ndo%2Bpakistan%2Bmilitary%2Bconfrontation
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unmogip/mandate.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unmogip/documents.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unmogip/background.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_wars_and_conflicts