ISLAMABAD: The occupation of Junagarh by India violated Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties and the state should be merged with Pakistan.

This was stated by the nawab of Junagarh, Muhammad Jahangir Khanji, on Sunday during a meeting with Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai. Sultan Muhammad Ali, founder of the Muslim Institute, was also present on the occasion.

Junagarh was a princely state of pre-partition India and at the time of partition over 550 states were given the choice to join either Pakistan or India. The nawab of Junagarh decided to join Pakistan.

But because the state was surrounded by Indian land, with the only outlet to the Arabian Sea, India occupied it and the nawab had to move to Karachi.

“The Junagarh state possesses the law of accession with Pakistan [which] meets all the criteria of accession under the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties,” said Nawab Khanji.

“To prove that the Junagarh state is a part of Pakistan, this accession document is important [because it is] strong and lawful evidence. The instrument of accession is an international agreement, concluded between states, in written form, governed by international law, in a single instrument,” he said.

The issue of Junagarh would remain alive legally as long as the instrument of accession was intact, the nawab said.

Mr Ali said that Junagarh and Kashmir were separate issues and should be dealt with as such. But both of them should be raised at the forums of the United Nations.

“The federal and provincial governments of Pakistan should work jointly and take effective measures to get them resolved,” he said.

Governor Achakzai assured Nawab Khanji that all issues important to Pakistan would be taken up seriously and praised the sacrifices rendered by the latter’s family for keeping alive the issue of Junagarh.

On the occasion, the nawab presented a copy of the document on law of accession to the governor of Balochistan.

Published in Dawn November 28th, 2016