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Pakistan
India
A major focus in Pakistan's foreign policy is the continuing
quest for security against India, its large, more powerful, and
generally hostile neighbor. Pakistan was created despite the opposition
of the most powerful political party in prepartition India, the
Hindu-dominated Indian National Congress, and the suspicion remains
among Pakistanis that India has never reconciled itself to the
existence of an independent Pakistan. Several events further soured
the relationship. One of these was the massive transfer of population
between the two countries at partition, with its attendant bloodshed
as Muslims left India and Hindus and Sikhs left Pakistan. There
was also bitterness over the distribution of financial assets
left by the British, with India initially blocking payments to
Pakistan from the joint sterling account. An even more complex
issue was the sovereignty of Kashmir, a concern arising from the
accession of the princely states to India or Pakistan at partition.
Although almost all of these states made the choice quickly, based
on geographic location and the religious majority of their population,
several delayed. One of these was Hyderabad, with a predominantly
Hindu population and a Muslim ruler who did not want to accede
to India. Hyderabad was a landlocked state in the south of India,
and Indian military intervention was used to incorporate it into
India.
The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (usually referred to
as Kashmir), however, had a Hindu ruler and boundaries with both
Pakistan and India. Although Muslims constituted a majority of
the state's population, the Hindu-Sikh community made up the majority
in the province of Jammu, and Buddhists predominated around Ladakh.
After a popular uprising against the Hindu ruler in late 1947,
supported by Pakistani tribesmen and some military units, the
ruler panicked and acceded to India. The subsequent Indo-Pakistani
War of 1947-48 over control of Kashmir concluded with a cease-fire
brokered by the United Nations (UN), which took effect on January
1, 1949. Kashmir was divided by a UN line between the areas held
by the two countries, and a 1949 UN Security Council resolution
provided for a plebiscite to be held under UN auspices to decide
the issue of accession. India has refused to hold the plebiscite,
and the dispute has continued. In 1965 war broke out again between
the two countries over Kashmir, ending in another cease-fire in
September. The Tashkent Declaration, signed on January 10, 1966,
under the auspices of the Soviet Union, provided for restoration
of the India-Pakistan international boundary and the Kashmir cease-fire
line but did not result in a permanent solution to the problem.
Relations between the two countries reached a new low in 1971,
when India intervened militarily in support of secessionist forces
in East Pakistan, thus playing an instrumental role in the creation
of independent Bangladesh. Although the Indo-Pakistani War of
1971 was fought over East Pakistan, heavy fighting also occurred
along the Kashmir cease-fire line. Consequently, under the Simla
Agreement of 1972 following the end of that war, the cease-fire
line in Kashmir was redefined (it is now usually referred to as
the Line of Control), and India and Pakistan agreed not to use
force in Kashmir. The agreement also improved relations sufficiently
for India to release some 90,000 prisoners of war taken when Pakistan's
army had surrendered in East Pakistan (see Yahya Khan and Bangladesh
, ch. 1).
The circumstances surrounding the conflict over Kashmir changed
considerably over the years, as have the levels of UN involvement
in the dispute. The military balance between India and Pakistan
after the latter's defeat in the 1971 war heavily favored India.
Another changed circumstance is that beginning in 1989, India
has had to face a virtual "Kashmiri intifada" in its repressive
efforts to keep a sullen and predominantly Muslim Kashmiri populace
under control. This insurrection, India claimed, was supported
by the "hidden hand" of Pakistan. Furthermore, the situation became
even more complex with a growing movement among certain factions
of Kashmiri militants for an independent Kashmiri state, precluding
accession to either India or Pakistan. The volatile and potentially
explosive situation in Kashmir continued to be monitored in 1994
by a team of UN observers, who operated under significant constraints.
The Kashmir dispute continues to be the major deterrent to improved
relations between the two countries.
Pakistan's suspicions of Indian intentions were further aroused
by India's entry into the nuclear arena. India's explosion of
a nuclear device in 1974 persuaded Pakistan to initiate its own
nuclear program. The issue has subsequently influenced the direction
of Pakistan's relations with the United States and China. United
States-Pakistan relations over the nuclear issue are particularly
prickly. Pakistan's relations with China on this issue, however,
have been influenced by both countries' suspicions of India. In
1991 China called on India to accept Pakistan's proposal of a
nuclear-free weapons zone in South Asia. In the same year, Pakistan
and China signed a nuclear cooperation treaty reportedly intended
for peaceful purposes. This agreement included provision by China
of a nuclear power plant to Pakistan.
An added source of tension in Indo-Pakistani relations concerned
the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 (see
Other South Asian Countries , this ch.). India refused to condemn
the Soviet action, while Pakistan provided sanctuary for Afghan
refugees and was a conduit for supplying arms from the United
States and others to the Afghan mujahidin. During the
Soviet Union's military intervention in Afghanistan, therefore,
Pakistan felt an increased threat on both its eastern and northwestern
borders. The rise of militant Hinduism in India, and the accompanying
violence against Muslims there, was a further source of uneasiness
between the two countries.
Data as of April 1994
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