With areas claimed by India, Pakistan and China, Kashmir has been the site of three wars and endless fighting since the partition of British India in 1947. Following a background report, Elizabeth Farnsworth and guests discuss the Kashmir dispute and place it in the context of current tension between India and Pakistan.

CHARLES KRAUSE: From a distance, the territory of Jammu and Kashmir looks like a scenic paradise, but today this Himalayan territory, commonly known in the west as Kashmir, is one of the most explosive areas anywhere in the world. Rivalry between Hindus and Muslims for control of Kashmir dates back to the 14th century. But after the partition of British India in 1947, that traditional rivalry turned into open conflict.

The fighting broke out in January 1948, after Kashmir's Hindu ruler, the Maharajah of Kashmir, decided that his kingdom should become a part of India -- even though a majority of Kashmir's population was Muslim. For nearly a year, the Indian and Pakistani armies fought for control of the territory--until a UN-negotiated cease-fire took effect in 1949. That cease-fire partitioned Kashmir between India and Pakistan-but also called for a plebiscite among the majority Muslim population to determine Kashmir's future. The plebiscite, which Pakistan has continued to demand, has never been held. Meanwhile, there have been three wars over Kashmir since the original cease-fire took effect.

In 1962, China occupied, and continues to hold, a slice of eastern Kashmir it took during the war with India-while India and Pakistan themselves fought two wars over Kashmir--in 1965 and 1971. In 1972, the current "line of control" was established, dividing Kashmir into two sections: the northern territories controlled by Pakistan and territories to the South controlled by India. But the Indian section includes the famous vale of Kashmir, where sentiment against India is strong because it's estimated that a majority of the population is Muslim.

GUERRILLA: We will resist till our last breath-till the last Indian occupation personnel is here.

CHARLES KRAUSE: Over the past decade Muslim separatists have stepped up guerrilla raids into the Indian section of Kashmir. Their goal is either union with Pakistan or an independent Kashmiri state--and to date, some 20,000 people have lost their lives as a result of the guerrilla fighting. In 1990, the guerrilla skirmishing nearly led to all-out war after both Pakistan and India mobilized their armies, and U.S. intelligence reportedly picked up signals that each was preparing to use nuclear weapons to settle the Kashmir question once and for all. Fearful of a nuclear exchange, the 1990 crisis was defused only after the U.S. stepped in to mediate.