The sub-continent, formerly known as British-India, was colonized by the British for nearly two hundred years. In 1947, when colonization ended and the British left the sub-continent (part of South Asia), two new countries, India and Pakistan, were created on the basis of religion. Kashmir, which was a princely state in 1947, has since been disputed between India and Pakistan. Unlike most of the other princely states who joined India or Pakistan, Kashmir (and Jammu) initially remained independent.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir as their integral part. Nearly three conventional wars have been fought between two nuclear-armed countries on the unresolved matter of Kashmir. In 1948, the United Nations passed UNSC resolution 38 on the status of Kashmir which urged both countries to have a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir, and to let the people of Kashmir decide their future; whether they want to join India or Pakistan, or to be independent.