It hallucinates in believing it can take Kashmir
There are some issues with regard to Kashmir that need to be resolved, but those are not the ones that Pakistan’s Army chief has been referring to. When General Raheel Sharif says that Kashmir is the “unfinished agenda of partition” and that Pakistan and Kashmir are “inseparable”, he is talking about extending Pakistan's control over that part of Jammu & Kashmir which is administered by India.
In his mind, the status of Jammu & Kashmir is disputed and Kashmiris should be allowed a plebiscite to determine if they'd like to be part of India or Pakistan. In his heart, he probably believes that in case of such a vote, Kashmiris will elect to join Pakistan (and if they don't, he'll send a few irregulars from across the line of Control to help the locals make up their mind). But the General's flights of fantasy notwithstanding, the fact of the matter is that, at the time of independence, the ruler of the princely State of Jammu & Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, signed the instrument of accession with India.
This made all of Kashmir an integral part of the Indian Union. So, there is nothing that's incomplete in the case. The only thing that remains to be done now is for India to regain control of those areas of Jammu & Kashmir that are occupied by Pakistan. This is the real ‘unfinished agenda of partition’. For many years, authorities here had effectively forgotten about bringing back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir into the Indian fold.
Even though in its official business, the Ministry of External Affairs always underlined that all of Kashmir was an integral part of India, the situation was different on the ground. This is possibly why Gen Sharif and his countrymen may have come under the illusion that they rightfully control a region that belongs to them. They, in fact, illegally occupy it.
The Modi Government, however, has sought to change the status quo. and this has left Pakistan fuming, as if it has just had a taste of Andhra mirchi, in the words of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. First, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke of India's land border with Afghanistan (which lies in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and now, the Ministry of External Affairs has protested the election that is to be held in PoK’s Gilgit-Baltistan on June 8. Neither move is expected to change ground realities just yet, but they do mark an improvement in policy posturing.
These efforts to bring India's rights over PoK back into conversation will strengthen New Delhi's hand at the negotiating table with Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The Modi Government should also consider reaching out to the people of Gilgit Baltistan, who have suffered under Pakistani control, and assure them that they will not be abandoned by India. As for Gen Sharif's comment on Pakistan and Kashmir being inseparable, it’s true in a convoluted sense: The so-called fight for Kashmir is at the core of the Pakistani national psyche and central to the carefully manufactured existential crisis that justifies Pakistani establishment’s powerplays.