The ground access to Kashmir had been reshaped by the Radcliffe Award, granting India the Muslim-majority Gurdaspur District and depriving Pakistan of crucial Ravi and Sutlej Headworks. Questions about the legitimacy of the Standstill Accession Agreement signed by Hari Singh on October 26, 1947, were raised by Western authors, including Alistair Lamb.
Mountbatten facilitated India’s control over 565 Princely States, including those with a desire to join Pakistan. The boundaries agreed upon in the June 3, 1947, partition plan underwent significant alterations through the unjust Radcliffe Award, leading to the ceding of East Punjab to India, among other changes.