VIOLENCE MARS CLINTON VISIT

Tensions in the region escalated with the March 20 slaughter of 36 Sikh villagers, apparently by Islamic militants, who previously had targeted only Muslims in their campaign to overturn Indian rule in the bulk of the state. The attack coincided with a visit to India by Clinton, who also planned a brief stopover in Pakistan at the end of the week.

Both India and Pakistan claim jurisdiction over all of Kashmir and currently occupy parts of it. India charges that Pakistan provides arms and training to anti-Indian militants operating in the region. Pakistan admits its sympathies but routinely denies providing actual support.

Kashmir is high on Clinton's agenda during his March 18-25 trip-the first time in 22 years that an American president has visited India. In addition to pressing both India and Pakistan to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Clinton hopes to gently nudge the two sides toward a resolution of their territorial dispute.

MOUNTAIN PARADISE

Where is Kashmir? Who lives there? And why are two countries preparing to fight a nuclear war over it?

Kashmir is a large, mostly mountainous region lying along the northwestern end of the Himalayan system. It is also traversed by the Karakoram Range and the Indus River. Covering 86,000 square miles, it is more than three times the size of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg combined. In addition to India and Pakistan, its neighbors are China and Afghanistan.

The Indian-controlled population is 7.7 million; 2.8 million live in the northwestern portion, controlled by Pakistan. China occupies more disputed land in the northeast. Indigenous groups in the area include the plains-dwelling Dogras, the Pahadis hill people and two nomadic mountain tribes: the Gaddis and the Gujjars. The remote Ladakh region and its soaring mountains is populated by Tibetan-style Buddhists with their lamaseries and festivals featuring dances with masks and scarves to the accompaniment of flutes, cymbals and percussion instruments.

ROOTS OF CURRENT TROUBLE

The scene of invasion and warfare for centuries, Kashmir's current troubles began with post-World War II events surrounding Britain's withdrawal from South Asia as a colonial power.

In 1947 Britain granted independence to India, a predominately Hindu country. At the same time it acceded to pressure from the largely Muslim population in the north by creating a separate country, Pakistan. While the boundaries of the two countries were still imprecisely defined, a faction of the predominately Muslim population of Hindu-ruled Kashmir demanded to be made part of Pakistan. War broke out when Pakistan invaded the area and was countered by Indian troops.

In 1949 a United Nations-arranged cease-fire was agreed to, and the region was effectively partitioned by a "Line of Control." Fighting broke out again in 1965 and 1971, and violence between Muslims and Hindus has continued through the 1990s.

The potential stakes of renewed warfare increased dramatically in 1998, when Pakistan responded to five Indian nuclear tests by carrying out six of its own. Both countries subsequently announced moratoriums on tests after the imposition of economic sanctions.

After almost a half-century, bickering and the threat of war continues over the future of Kashmir.

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