The State of Jammu and Kashmir is situated between Pakistan and India. Among the key reasons for tension between Pakistan and India is the key problem of Kashmir. Whereas Pakistan has repeatedly termed this the "core issue" in its relationship with India, India has maintained that this matter was settled with Kashmir's accession to India in October 1947. As far as India has been concerned, therefore, the only issue for discussion has been what India regards as Pakistan's continuing illegal occupation of part of Jammu and Kashmir, an occupation that began in 194748, during the war between the two. About 63 per cent of the territory is under Indian occupation; while the rest, 37 per cent, is with Pakistan, called "Azad" meaning independent Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Total population of Kashmir is about 13 million. Population of Indian occupied Kashmir is about 7.7 million and remaining 6 million is with Pakistan. Kashmir dispute is the oldest unresolved conflict between Pakistan and India. Over which both countries have fought 3 wars. Pakistan considers Kashmir as the fundamental political dispute with India, where as India does not consider Kashmir as a dispute, in fact it considers it as its internal affair. The world has accepted Kashmir as a disputed territory and as an international conflict that needs to be resolved.
The history of Kashmir conflict goes back 1947, when both Pakistan and India got independence from the British. Kashmir has always been an independent territory. Until 1846, Kashmir was part of the Sikh empire. In that year, the British defeated the Sikhs and sold Kashmir to Gulab Singh of Jammu for Rs. 7.5 million under the Treaty of Amritsar. Gulab Singh, the Mahraja, signed a separate treaty with the British which gave him the status of an independent princely ruler of Kashmir. Gulab Singh died in 1857 and was replaced by Rambir Singh (1857-1885). Two other Marajas, Partab Singh (1885-1925) and Hari