The Ministry of Kashmir Affairs (MKA) was first established in January 1949 following the First Indo-Pakistani War, which left Kashmir divided between India and Pakistan through a UNSC-mandated ceasefire line. Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani, former diwan of Bahawalpur and Pakistani state minister without portfolio (sic) was appointed as the minister in charge of the MKA. A sprawling office was set up in Rawalpindi with a 300-man secretariat.