The account given by Dharma Vira, who was joint secretary to cabinet, bears out Mountbatten’s role. There was every reason to believe that if the [army] operations had continued for a few days more, the entire area of Kashmir would have been liberated. Lord Mountbatten, however, did not like an open armed conflict between the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. He advised Nehru to agree to a cease-fire and to take the case of aggression on a territory which through accession was Indian, to the United Nations. Sardar Patel was opposed to this advice. He was of the opinion that as
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