Why is it in the news?
1. The Prime Minister of India, while giving an interview to the American podcastor Lex Friedman said that every noble attempt for peace with Pakistan was met with hostility and betrayal.
2. India made several diplomatic attempts to normalise relations with Pakistan after partition but these overtures were met with hostility, military conflict, and cross border terrorism .
3. Just after independence and partition, the tribal militia supported by the Pakistani army attacked J & K and captured Gilgit, Baltistan, Muzaffarabad and Mirpur. They were about to capture Srinagar. The Maharaja Hari Singh fled from Srinagar to Jammu. He signed the instrument of accession on 26th October 1947. The Indian army landed at Srinagar and flushed out the Pakistani infiltrators from two third areas of J & K. The war continued for one and half years. Ultimately, India showed gestures of goodwill by declaring ceasefire on 1st November 1949 at the behest of the UN.
3. Financial Division - The total cash reserves of British India amounted to ₹400 crores. India was to retain ₹300 crores while Pakistan was to get ₹100 crores. India already paid ₹45 crore in August 1947. The remaining ₹55 crores were released in spite of raids by the Pakistani army supported by tribal militia into J & K.
4. Nehru-Liaquat Pact - This Pact aimed at protecting the rights of minorities in both countries. But Pakistan did not implement it to preserve the rights of Hindu minorities. The communal riots continued in Pakistan so much so that the Hindu population in West Pakistan got reduced from 21% to 3%.
5. Indus river water treaty (1960) - India made a treaty with Pakistan with regard to the distribution of water of the Indus river and its tributaries. The World Bank brokered the treaty by which Pakistan was to get water from the Indus, the Chenab and Jhelum while India was to get water from the river Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. In spite of being a riparian state, India sacrificed in order to bring peace with Pakistan. But even this sacrifice did not appease Pakistan so much so that it often raises water issues at international fora alleging that India has been making dams over Chenab and Jhelum and diverting water to India.
6. Tashkent Agreement (1966) - Pakistan attacked India in 1965 to grab J & K. It failed in its efforts. Rather the Indian army captured most of the territories of India. However, Soviet Russia brokered the peace and all the captured territories by India were handed over to Pakistan.
7. Shimla Agreement (1972) - After the 1971 war, a new country Bangladesh was born. 90,000 Pakistani Army surrendered before the Indian army. However, India returned all surrendered Pakistani army. It was also decided that disputes between India and Pakistan henceforth would be resolved bilaterally without the interference of the third power. Pakistan responded by supporting Khalistani movement in Punjab and insurgency in J & K in 1980s and 1990s. Knowing that it cannot win over India in conventional war, it started supporting and exporting terrorist groups in J & K. Pakistani ISI has been imparting training to terrorists in Pak Occupied Kashmir and exporting them into J & K to create disruptions and killing of innocent people. More than 30,000 people have been killed in J & K. Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave the valley.
8. Lahore declaration (1999) - India wanted to have peaceful relations with Pakistan and the Indian Prime Minister led the delegation to Lahore. But within a few months, Pakistan clandestinely captured Kargil resulting in a full fledged war between India and Pakistan.
9. Agra Summit (2001) - India invited Pakistani President Parvez Mussharaf for peace talks but it failed because of the differences over cross border terrorism.
10. Parliament Attack on December 13th, 2001 - Indian Parliament was attacked by Pakistan based terror groups like Lashkar-e-taiba and Jaish-e-mohammad. All five terrorists were killed by security forces. Nine security personnels and one civilian also lost their lives. India mobilised its military along the Pakistan border. This continued 10 months long stand out. The Government enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) to combat terrorism effectively. Afzal Guru was sentenced to death and hanged in 2013. He was found assisting terrorists.
11. 26/11 Mumbai attacks (2008) - Pakistani sponsored terrorists attacked Mumbai from sea route causing deaths of more than 130 policemen and civilians.
12. India again resumed diplomatic talks with Pakistan and started trade with Pakistan in 2016. Pakistan responded by attacks in Uri (2016) and Pulwama (2019) killing 40 Crpf jawans. India responded by surgical strike at Balakot.
13. In 2019, India revoked article 370 and bifurcated J & K by making two Union Territories of J & L and Ladakh. Pakistan opposed this move and stepped up cross border insurgency and terrorist activities. As of now, there is no trade relation between India and Pakistan. People-to people exchange is also very much restricted. Terrorist activities are still going on. However, its frequency has come down.
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Why has the relation between India and Pakistan not normalised?
1. Pakistan’s efforts to have parity with India - Since partition, it has been the objective of Pakistan to have strategic parity with India. That’s why, just after independence, it became aligned with the American bloc. It became a member of SEATO, SENTO and Baghdad Pact. While India pursued the policy of non-alignment, keeping distance with both the blocs , Pakistan wanted to have strategic parity with India and so it became part of the American bloc. It got a huge amount of American aid and military equipment. Thus, between 1947 to 1965, the growth rate of Pakistan was double that of India. It is because of this urge that Pakistan detonated a nuclear bomb in 1998 in retaliation of the Indian detonation in the same year.
2. Pakistan does not recognise the instrument of accession of J & K by Maharaja Hari Singh with the Indian Union. It contends that Maharaja signed over the instrument of accession under Indian pressure. He did not take into account the opinion of 75% Muslim majority subjects. Pakistan believes in a two nation theory and so Kashmir should have been a part of Pakistan. It raided J & K and captured one third of its territory. It is of the view that the control over J & K would give it strategic depth over India. Moreover, the Indus river and its tributaries flow through J & K and so its control would give it water security.
3. Dominance of Military and ISI in Pakistani politics - Pakistani army virtually controls the foreign policy vis-a-vis India. It does not want normalisation between India and Pakistan on account of the fear that in case of normalised relations, the military expenditure would come down. So whenever there starts peace process between two countries, it is sabotaged by ISI.
4. Political instability in Pakistan - Since partition, the political leadership in Pakistan has been weak. Unlike congress, the Muslim league did not participate in the freedom struggle. They always supported Britishers. They never went into Jail for a single day. They never opposed British policy. They never organised agitations against the Britishers. It has now become clear that Pakistan was created to subserve the interest of the Britishers in the Middle East and for the purpose of providing a military base and manpower. According to noted scholar Istiak Ahmad, Pakistan was created as a buffer state between India and the Soviet Union. Thus, the Muslim League leaders were not so much trained politically and administratively before independence. The weakness of the Pakistani leadership was taken advantage of by the military. The army captured power thrice in 1958, 1977 and 1999 and imposed dictatorship. Thus, Pakistan was under the military dictatorship for more than 30 years after partition. The weak political leadership is not allowed by the all powerful military establishment to have a peaceful relationship with India.
5. Pakistan-China Axis - The relationship between Pakistan and India has been further complicated by the open support to Pakistan by China. China is a close ally of Pakistan. It has made Gwadar port at the mouth of Arabian Sea. It is constructing the China-Pakistan economic corridor. It vetoes in the security council on the question of terrorist activities of Pakistan into Kashmir Valley. It gives huge aid to Pakistan. The open support by China to Pakistan further complicated the relationship between India and Pakistan. In addition, it is also being supported by Turkey, OIC (Organisation of Islamic Country) and Malaysia on the Kashmir issue.
Conclusion
1. The support extended by the US earlier and China later on prevented a peaceful relation between India and Pakistan. The Kashmir issue has been the bone of contention. The Pakistani army virtually controls the civilian administration. It does not want a normalised relations with India lest its importance in the Pakistani politics would be weakened. Hence political restructuring of Pakistan is necessary for cordial relations between India and Pakistan.
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