Paper short abstract:

This paper provides a political economy perspective to explain dependency historically in Indian controlled Kashmir and argues that critical junctures are extremely important in understanding the dependent nature of Kashmir economy, and its incorporation into the national economy.

Paper long abstract:

Numerous explanations have been offered for explaining dependency and underdevelopment in Indian controlled Kashmir, classified as the world's most militarized zone. However, the limitations' surrounding these explanations is their failure to ground them within a theoretical framework that takes into consideration a historical perspective to explain the present economic outcomes. This paper provides a political economy perspective to explain dependency and underdevelopment in Indian controlled Kashmir. The central question that this paper seeks to answer is why Kashmir is heavily dependent on national economy, and how has this dependency varied during different periods. The paper has divided the post 1947 period into different phases based on regimes that came to power and studies their development strategies. The rationale behind choosing these periods is to facilitate an understanding of how different interest groups were responsible for shifts in the state policy and political economy. The paper then identifies four critical junctures, and explores the outcomes related to politico-legal institutions, variations in dependency, the rise and decline of self-determination movements, and natural resource extractions. Finally, special attention is given to the role of power structures in shaping the development outcomes. The paper argues that these junctures are extremely important and critical in understanding the dependent nature of Kashmir economy, and its incorporation into the national economy.

Key Words: Critical junctures, dependency, Kashmir, Conflict.