Kashmir

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines the process of the territorialization of Kashmir as carried out by India and Pakistan. It frames Kashmir as a geo-discursive package of sovereign contestation and sets out the key practices through which the region’s territorial transformation has been brought about. The territorial dynamic created by India’s efforts to circumscribe the scope of the Kashmir issue, and their opposition by Pakistan, is discussed. Four major practices, including the non-recognition of Kashmiri subjectivity, through which India has brought Kashmir within its logic of power and authority are outlined. The ways in which Pakistan controls and administers parts of the region and covets the Valley are mapped. Finally, the excess represented in their conflict over the Siachen Glacier is analysed. In tracing the processes that have increased the salience of the territorial over the popular as regards Kashmir, the chapter reveals the territorial dimensions of the two states’ sovereignty.