The Edge of the Precipice

Last week the Premiers of India and Pakistan were partners in diplomacy for high stakes. After a seven-day conference over communal problems, Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan had worked out an agreement which, if it could be made to work, might restore peace to a subcontinent on the verge of war.

Approved by both Pakistan's Constituent Assembly and India's Parliament, the agreement outlined plans to protect the rights of minority peoples and to punish any who violated those rights. The mere signing of the agreement created a calm among both Moslems and Hindus, so that the torrent of refugees which swelled during recent communal riots (TIME, April 10) slowed to a trickle. Some of the refugees began to go back home, where the agreement assures them the return of any property they may have left behind. Said Nehru: "We have stopped ourselves at the edge of the precipice and turned our back to it." Said Liaquat Ali: " [The agreement] will be very helpful towards the solution of other problems which face the two countries."

Last week, the United Nations Security Council reminded the world of one of the greatest Pakistan-India problems by choosing Sir Owen Dixon, 63-year-old justice of Australia's High Court, as mediator in the Kashmir dispute. Kashmir, with a 77% Moslem population, was sold by the British in 1846 to a Hindu prince, has been under Hindu rule ever since.

When India was partitioned, both nations claimed Kashmir. Both sent in troops. After the fighting died down, both India and Pakistan agreed to a plebiscite, but they have not been able to agree on withdrawal of their troops. Sir Owen has four months to persuade the two countries to demilitarize Kashmir so that the plebiscite can be held.

The stiff opposition of Hindu extremists in Nehru's cabinet puts him in political danger if he cannot keep Kashmir for India. His agreement with Liaquat Ali last week cost him the resignations of two Moslem-hating cabinet members from riot-torn Bengal. The Kashmir mediation will be a stiffer test of whether Nehru and Liaquat Ali can make their agreement work.

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