The relations between India and Pakistan since 1947

Résumé du document

In this essay, we will focus on the evolutions of the relations between Pakistan and India from 1947 to current. From the previous times when both countries locked horns and were rivals on the brink of war in 1947-1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999, to comparison of the current situation, we can argue that a real evolution has taken place, as the Indo-Pakistani relation has moved from traditional conflicts, mainly over the Kashmiri question, to a so-called ‘Cold Peace', guaranteed by what can be defined as a terror equilibrium. This is due to the fact that both of the players own nuclear power. Most of the conflicts between India and Pakistan originated because of the issue over the control of Kashmir (some people refer it to as Switzerland of the east), but there were other causes as well, especially on the conflicts afterwards, for example the historical roots, that means a traditional conflict between the two protagonists. We will study these others causes in our essay.

To deal with this wide subject, evolutions in the Indo-Pakistani relations and the road from what we can call ‘traditional conflicts' to a new balance of power defined by the nuclear force, we will try to follow these changes along our essay. In the first part, we will focus on the different conflicts that occurred between India and Pakistan since 1947, except 1971 (as it was a war that formed Bangladesh), and the creation and both this states, to see what were the evolutions and why can one say that they are still engaged in ‘classical conflicts'. Then we will be able to study the impact of India and Pakistan producing nuclear weapons, and show to what extent it can be argued that India and Pakistan are now in a ‘Cold Peace' situation because of the changes linked to the possession of the nuclear power.

Extraits

[...] Then we will study the Second Kashmir war, and see to what extent it can really be considered as an example of a ‘traditional conflict' that occurred between India and Pakistan. We will not present the conflict of 1971, because it was different from the 3 others by its origin, as the dispute was over East-Pakistan. Last we will focus on the ‘Kargil war' of 1999. So that it is easier to know where the conflicts took place, have a look a the map below as well. [...]

[...] We can say that if the conflict wasn't full fledged, it is because of the balance of power between both countries. Considering the tensions that were between them, going to war at that time would have been really too dangerous and would have had terrible consequences for both India and Pakistan. Since 2004, India and Pakistan seem to be on the road of appeasement. There was a will to reduce the tensions in Kashmir and to open talks on nuclear arms, because it is the interest of both the countries to save the strategic balance. [...]

[...] Moreover it is also possible to argue that it is a ‘traditional' or ‘classical conflict', because of the origin of the war. There were first security reasons and a will from India to save the balance of power and from Pakistan to change it. As it is written in the Encyclopaedia of Conflicts since WWII[1]: 1965, there were about 50 million Muslims living in India and there was always the possibility of communal riots that could turn bloody, as occurred in 1947 and 1948. [...]

[...] But this conflict can also be seen as an evidence to show the evolution of the relations and the way to wage war between India and Pakistan. Indeed both the countries at this time owned nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, and so the conflict could have led to a nuclear war. That's the reason why Pakistan withdrew so quickly, because if they didn't have the support from the United States or the international community, it was really too risky to continue the war. [...]

[...] That was one of the reasons why India went to war against Pakistan, because it wanted to guarantee its own security. Another cause was the idealism that ruled both sides of the conflict. It is important not to forget that in of the Kashmir population was Muslim. The sense of feeling that followed the partition of the British empire of India was still present in most of the minds. Thus India was considered as a Hindu country, whereas Pakistan was the country of Muslims. [...]