Political Science · Ch 3 — Contemporary South Asia
India-Pakistan Conflicts
India-Pakistan Conflicts
The Central Conflict: India and Pakistan
The most significant and persistent international conflict in South Asia is the one between India and Pakistan. This rivalry overshadows all other regional tensions and has its roots in the very partition of the subcontinent in 1947.
The Kashmir Dispute
The core of the conflict is the fate of the former princely state of Kashmir. Immediately after partition, Pakistan claimed that Kashmir rightfully belonged to it, while India asserted its accession. This disagreement led to the first war between the two countries in 1947–48.
That war did not resolve the issue. It ended with the province being divided into two parts, separated by a Line of Control:
- Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)
- The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
A second war in 1965 also failed to settle the matter. India won a decisive war against Pakistan in 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh, but the Kashmir issue remained unresolved.
Strategic and Military Rivalry
Beyond Kashmir, the conflict has expanded into a broader strategic rivalry.
- Siachen Glacier: Both countries have fought over control of this high-altitude, uninhabited glacier in the Karakoram range.
- Arms Race: The competition for military hardware intensified dramatically in the 1990s when both states acquired nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them.
- In 1998, India conducted nuclear tests at Pokhran.
- Pakistan responded within days with its own nuclear tests at the Chagai Hills.
- A New Military Relationship: Since acquiring nuclear weapons, the possibility of a direct, full-scale war has declined. However, deep mutual suspicion remains.
Allegations of Cross-Border Support
The two governments regularly accuse each other of destabilising the other's territory.
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India's allegations against Pakistan:
- Pakistan uses a strategy of low-key violence by supporting Kashmiri militants with arms, training, money, and protection to carry out terrorist strikes in India.
- Pakistan aided pro-Khalistani militants with arms and ammunition during the period 1985–1995.
- Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) , is alleged to be involved in anti-India campaigns in India's northeast, operating secretly through Bangladesh and Nepal.
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Pakistan's allegations against India:
- India and its security agencies are blamed for fomenting trouble in the Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
Other Bilateral Issues
The conflict is not limited to territorial and military matters. Two other significant issues have been points of contention. …
The cartoon shows a large, cracked wall labelled "Indo-Pak Talks" — the wall itself is the central image. On the Indian side of the wall, a man representing India is seated at a table, holding a document titled "Agenda". On the Pakistani side, another man representing Pakistan is also seated at a table, but he is holding a brick and a trowel, as if he is about to repair or rebuild the wall. Between them, the crack in the wall is wide enough to suggest that dialogue has been difficult, but the Pakistani figure’s tools imply an intention to mend the barrier rather than break it down entirely.
The cartoon’s caption reads: "A view of the current phase of the Indo-Pak negotiations." The humour lies in the contrast: while India appears ready to discuss a formal agenda, Pakistan is shown physically working on the wall itself — suggesting that the real obstacle is not the lack of topics to discuss, but the mutual suspicion and historical baggage that keep the two sides separated. The wall symbolises the many unresolved issues — Kashmir, terrorism, Siachen, river waters, Sir Creek — that have made talks a cycle of breakdown and repair rather than a straight path to resolution. …
The figure is a political cartoon by Keshav, published in The Hindu, titled "A view of the current phase of the Indo-Pak negotiations." It shows a table with two chairs, one on each side. On the left sits a figure representing India, and on the right sits a figure representing Pakistan. Between them, on the table, is a large, tangled knot of rope — labelled "Kashmir issue" — with multiple loose ends trailing off. Each figure is holding one end of the rope and pulling it toward themselves, straining backward in their chairs. The rope is taut, and the knot is not unravelling; instead, it is getting tighter.
The cartoon captures the core deadlock in India-Pakistan relations described in the textbook. The single, central knot labelled "Kashmir issue" reflects the text's statement that "the most salient and overwhelming of these conflicts is, of course, the one between India and Pakistan" and that wars in 1947-48, 1965, and 1971 "failed to settle the matter." The fact that both sides are pulling on the same rope — rather than working together to untie it — illustrates the mutual suspicion and blame that the textbook details: India accuses Pakistan of aiding Kashmiri militants, while Pakistan blames India for fomenting trouble in Sindh and Balochistan. The cartoon's title, "current phase of the Indo-Pak negotiations," is ironic: the "negotiations" are not a dialogue but a tug-of-war, with each side trying to force the other to yield. The tightening knot visually reinforces the textbook's point that despite talks, the conflict remains unresolved and perhaps even more entangled over time. …