NEW DELHI – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to change thepolitical map of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) by dividing the disputed stateinto three parts, a daily newspaper reported while quoting ‘crediblesources’ in the PM Office in New Delhi.

“The Indian government will create three union territories of Jammu,Kashmir and Ladakh,” according to the Jammu-based *Early Times*. It saidthat Prime Minister Modi was ‘very serious’ about Kashmir. “He (Modi) wantsto resolve the ‘Kashmir issue’ before the general elections of 2019,” itsaid.

Quoting the sources, the paper reported that the Indian prime ministerwants to resolve the Kashmir issue during his first-term itself. “It ispossible that he (Modi) may himself in a month or so declare division ofKashmir into three parts,” it said.

According to PMO officials, the Modi government was working out a schemethat would lead to the trifurcation of the disputed state. “If all goeswell, the Kashmir map would be changed and Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh wouldbe created as the union territories,” they said.

The report claimed that the ‘division’ of the disputed territory would leadto the ‘resolution’ of many problems. India’s ruling party knows that itcan’t form a government in the disputed state on its own and that it has todepend either on the National Conference or the People’s Democratic Partyif it wants to share power.

Under such a situation, the Indian ruling elite can’t abrogate Article 370of the constitution. An Indian officer at the PM Office claimed that theModi government would divide the disputed state before the generalelections of 2019. “He (Modi) will himself announce this (controversial)decision,” he said.