Indian Independence Act 1947
The 1947 Indian Independence Act (1947 c. 30 (10 & 11. Geo. 6.)) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received the royal assent on 18 July 1947, and thus modern-day Pakistan and India came into being on 15 August.
The legislature representatives of the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League, and the Sikh community came to an agreement with Lord Mountbatten on what has come to be known as the 3 June Plan or Mountbatten Plan. This plan was the last plan for independence.
Attlee's announcement
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom announced on 20 February 1947 that:
1.the British Government would grant full self-government to British India by 3 June 1948 at the latest,
2.The future of the Princely States would be decided after the date of final transfer is decided.
Future of the Princely States
Attlee wrote to Mountbatten on 18 March 1947: "It is, of course, important that the Indian States should adjust their relations with the authorities to whom it is intended to hand over power in British India; but as was explicitly stated by the Cabinet Mission His Majesty's Government do not intend to hand over their powers and obligations under paramountcy to any successor Government.
It is not intended to bring paramountcy as a system to a conclusion earlier than the date of the final transfer of power, but you are authorized, at such time as you think appropriate, to enter into negotiations with individual States for adjusting their relations with the Crown. The princely states would be free from orders and treaties of British Rule in India. They can either join the two dominions or stay separate
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle
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