India's Foreign Policy: : Past, Present and Ties with the World by Dr. S K Shah

Author:Dr. S K Shah [Shah, Dr. S K]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Alpha Editions
Published: 2017-10-02T04:00:00+00:00

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India and Pakistan

Indo-Pakistani relations are grounded in the political, geographic, cultural, and economic links between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan the two largest countries of South Asia. The two countries share much of their common geographic location, but differ starkly in religious demographics. India is a secular country with Hindu majority at about 80% of the total population and Muslims being the largest religious minority with about 13% of the population. Pakistan, on the other hand, is an Islamic country with 97% population being Muslim, and only about 1. 8% Hindus. Diplomatic relations between the two are defined by the history of the violent partition of British India into these two states, and numerous military conflicts and territorial disputes thereafter.

Much of South Asia came under direct control of Great Britain in the late 18th century. The British Raj over the Indian subcontinent lasted for almost 150 years. 95% of the people living in South Asia practised either Hinduism or Islam. The Muslim League, headed by Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, proposed the Two Nation Theory in the early 20th century. According to the theory, Muslims and others shared little in common, and British India should be divided into two separate countries, one for the Muslims and the other for the Hindu majority, which he feared would suppress the Muslim minority. The campaign gained momentum in early 1940s and by the end of World War II, British India’s partition looked inevitable.

The Partition of India in 1947 created two large countries independent from Britain: Pakistan as two wings in the East and West, separated by India in the middle. Soon after Independence, India and Pakistan established diplomatic relations. Subsequent years were marked by bitter periodic conflict, and the nations went to war four times. The war in 1971 ended in defeat and another partition of Pakistan. The eastern wing split off as a new country named Bangladesh, while the western wing continued as Pakistan.

There have been some improvements in relations since the mid-2000s. Most notably, Pakistan released an Indian man accused of being a spy in 2008: he had been detained since 1975. But relations soured slightly after the 2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attacks by an alleged group partially consisting of Pakistani based militants.

SEEDS OF CONFLICT

About half a million Muslims and Hindus were killed in communal riots following the partition of the British Empire. Millions of Muslims living in India and Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan emigrated in one of the most colossal transfers of population in the modern era. Both countries accused each other of not providing adequate security to the minorities emigrating through their territory. This served to increase tensions between the newly-born countries.

According to the British plan for the partition of British India, all the 680 princely states were allowed to decide which of the two countries to join. With the exception of a few, most of the Muslim-majority princely-states acceded to Pakistan while most of the Hindu-majority princely states joined India. However,

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