Jinnah - Mountbatten Talks
History of the bilateral negotiations on Kashmir between the leaders of India and Pakistan at the state level can be traced back to November 1947. Meeting of the Joint Defense Council was scheduled at Delhi only four days after the occupation of Kashmir by the Indian forces. The venue of the meeting was changed from Delhi to Lahore. The Governor Generals and Prime Ministers of the two countries were supposed to attend the meeting. However, to avoid direct talks with his Pakistani counter part Jawaharlal Nehru declared him-self ill and his deputy, Sardar Patel refused to come to Lahore, as he did not consider that there was anything to discuss with the Pakistani leadership. This left Mountbatten alone in his visit to Pakistan.
Mountbatten came to Lahore on November 1, 1947 and had a three and a half hour long discussion with the Pakistani Governor General. Mountbatten made an offer to the Quaid that India would hold a plebiscite in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, provided the withdrawal of the Azad Kashmiri forces and their allies. He also made it clear that the Indian forces would remain in the valley and Sheikh Abdullah in the chair. Quaid-i-Azam opposed the unjust plan and claimed that the State of Jammu and Kashmir, with its massive Muslim majority, belonged to Pakistan as of right as an essential element in an uncompleted partition process. He was also convinced that plebiscite under the supervision of Sheikh Abdullah and Indian regulars would be sabotaged. Quaid-i-Azam presenting his proposal asked for the immediate and simultaneous withdrawal of both the Pathan tribesmen and the Indian troops. After this he suggested that the two Governor Generals of India and Pakistan should take control of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and sort out all matters including the organizing or a free and fair plebiscite.
Quaid-i-Azam guaranteed his counterpart that the two of them would be able to solve the problem once forever, if Mountbatten was ready to fly with him to Srinagar at once. As India was not interested in the immediate resolution of the problem and wanted to gain time, Mountbatten told the Quaid that unlike him, he was not the complete master of his country and had to take the consent of Nehru and Patel. Thus the talks finished without solving the problem.