Karan Singh, son of Hari Singh and witness to the signing of the accession treaty, said the Maharaja was considering options after India's independence and birth of Pakistan when the tribal invasion was launched by raiders, many of whom were Pakistani regulars.

"The die was cast... Pakistan forced the Maharaja (Hari Singh) to sign the accession treaty with India on October 26, 1947", Karan Singh, Rajya Sabha member, said at a function organised for release of the book, Kashmir -- A Mirage by Panthers Party president Professor Bhim Singh.

Stating that the Maharaja had to decide under "difficult conditions", he said the accession treaty was signed amidst a "massiveinvasion."

Coming down on criticism that Maharaja Hari Singh had been "indecisive" on the issue of accession, Karan Singh said, "My father ruled a State where the majority was Muslims, where all rivers flow to Pakistan... He signed the accession treaty with India, otherwise it could have been a different scenario."

Asserting that Kashmir is not an international issue but an internal problem, the former Union Minister regretted that "very few in Delhi understand".

"The people of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered grievously for the last 52 years and continue to do so... There is havoc in Kashmir, which has been ravaged by militancy. There are repeated problems of dislocation prompted by Pakistani firing in Jammu. People of Ladakh have also been suffering," he said.

Stressing the need for moving towards a final settlement to the Kashmir issue, he said, "There must be a will, a desire" to do so.

Former election commissioner G V G Krishnamurty said Jammu and Kashmir's accession with India was complete andthere was no dispute. "If there is no dispute about accession of other places of the country, why the dispute on Jammu and Kashmir," he asked.