Why Has the Conflict between India and Pakistan Been So Intractable - Case Study Example

Why has the conflict between India and Pakistan been so intractable? Table of Contents Introduction 3 Analysis 4 Conclusion 9 References 11 Introduction One of the greatest political rivalries of the modern globalised world can be traced to the relationship between India and Pakistan. Both these nations along with Bangladesh were together under the British rule for almost two centuries and fought the independence struggle together. However since independence the relations between the two nations have been very sour with India and Pakistan having fought three battles against each other. The situation has reached an alarming intensity as both these nations are nuclear armed and another conflict between the nuclear armed nations can lead to a global catastrophe. The conflict between the two nations has continued since 1947 and has even starched longer than the cold war. There have been a number of contentious issues between the two nuclear powered nations however the conflict becomes intractable because of the fact that there is a territorial dispute between the nations. According to a research a conflict between two nations can be termed as intractable when specific tangible stakes involving land territory or other tangibly divisible aspects become symbolic in the sense that they are converted into intangible aspects in terms of zero sums that make it difficult to break and divide (Khan, 2009, p.61-62). The conflict between India and Pakistan can be termed as intractable considering the fact that the bone of contentious issues lies in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which both the nations stake their claim. India refuses to Pakistan’s claim that Kashmir is their part as the area has a majority of population that follows the Muslim religion. India on the other hand being secular nation rubbishes the latter’s claim as it believes in the accession treaty signed by Maharaja Hari Singh, the last king of Kashmir in which he agreed to accede Kashmir into India (Ganguly, Diamond & Plattner, 2007, p.52). The following section would try to deeply analyse the aspects that have led to the conflict assuming such an intractable nature that still continues to capture global attention. Analysis In order to better understand the reasons behind the intractable nature of the conflict it is very necessary to look back to the history that led to the creation of these two states. The conflict between the two nations can be traced to the days of British colonialism in which both the nations were under the British rule commonly referred to as the ‘Raj Era’. In order to consolidate their rule in the nation, the English applied the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy taking advantage of the large number of diverse religious communities in the nation by turning one community against the other. In 1947 when the British decided to grant independence, it divided the unified India into 547 princely states. In addition to this the last viceroy of British India, Lord Mountbatten also encouraged the Muslim league leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah in keeping up his demand to either accept him as the ruler of independent India or carve out a separate state of Pakistan comprising the north western states of Punjab, Baluchistan and Sind. Mahatma Gandhi, the main architect of the independence movement in India had to accept the partition plan of India following which the unified India was divided into India and Pakistan (East and West). Post partition India chose to remain secular while Pakistan declared itself as an Islamic nation bound to ‘Sharia’ laws. The partition resulted in widespread riots claiming thousands of lives across both the borders and also left thousands homeless and orphaned. Meanwhile, the focus of the issue shifted to Kashmir that was a Muslim dominated area and on the basis of this Pakistan launched an armed assault on the state that was not a part of India or Pakistan and was under the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu province. Unable to stand the attacks by Pakistan, Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede the territory of Jammu and Kashmir to India in return for military protection. Following this agreement, the Indian army was called on to defend the borders. Owning to the better might of the Indian army, the Pakistan army started withdrawing. In the meanwhile, the first Prime Minister of independent India Jawaharlal Nehru went to the UN assembly against the aggressive posture of Pakistan. A cease fire was immediately initiated however; a considerable amount of Kashmir still remained under the control of Pakistan. This area still under Pakistani dominance and control is referred to as ‘Pakistan Occupied Kashmir’ with the border being referred as the Line of Control still remains the major issue of contention between the two nations. The UN suggested the two nations to limit the case of plebiscite only to the Kashmir valley in 1950 that was rejected by both the nations. In the meanwhile, the then Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his Pakistani counterpart Mohd. Ali Bogra met on the sidelines of the commonwealth conference held at London in the year 1953 in which both the nations resolved to solve the issue themselves and rejected the involvement of the UN. In the meanwhile Pakistan in 1965 launched a state sponsored guerrilla operation into Kashmir (Operation Gibraltar) with the hope that the religious background of the local population would help turn the tide against India. This plan failed miserably and frustrated by the situation Pakistan launched attacks on Jammu. In response the Indian armed forces launched attacks on Pakistan and captured parts of its territory. The UN resolution backed by US, UK for a possible ceasefire was rejected by the two nations. The war ended with the intervention of the Soviet premier Alexsei Kosygin by the signing of the Tashkent Declaration on January 10, 1966 (Indurthy, n.d., p.1-10). The two nations again went to war in 1971 with the Indian Army launching an offensive into East Pakistan under the leadership of Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India (Dutta & Liang, 2009, p.74). The armed assault starting on the Eastern borders soon engulfed the Western front and the war ended with a disastrous defeat of the Pakistani Army along with the creation of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971 and the signing of the Shimla Agreement between Indira Gandhi of India and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan on July 2, 1972. The agreement in the Para 4 clearly states that the issue of Kashmir still remains the unresolved issue between the two nations (Singh, 2001, p.120-127). Figure 1: Official Maps of the Indian Subcontinent before and after Partition (Source: Keen, 1998) The division of Bangladesh further widened the rift between the two nations. The Kashmir issue again assumed forefront in May 1999 when Pakistani Sponsored intruders invaded the Line of Control in Kashmir. The timing of the invasion was deliberately chosen during winter of 1998 when the front outposts are vacated by both the nations due to extreme weather conditions. The intruders had hope to control vital parts that would help cut off the highway connecting Srinagar with rest of India and use it as a vital point for launching and separating Kashmir from the rest of the country. The Indian Armed forces under the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee launched a counter military offensive against the intruders. The Indian army was successful in the war and managed to win it without crossing the Line of Control. This stature gained widespread populace among the international community and Pakistan was strongly criticised for the attack. The war ended with India regaining all its territory on July 26, 1999 officially celebrated as Vijay Diwas in India (Prabhakar, 2003, p.140-145). However the relation between the two Asian neighbours still remains sour despite all efforts by the international community. The conflict between the two nations still remains intractable due to certain reasons. Firstly, the international community cannot intervene because of the huge difference in the balance of power between the two nations. On one hand India is a modern nation registering high economic growth and is one of the fastest growing economies of the world, whereas Pakistan still remains backward with the economy in doldrums and an unstable political environment. Secondly the external peacemakers have not made a serious effort to solve the issue considering the fact that the interests of the third party also creep in repelling the actual issue and leading to a dabbling of the issue rather than solving. Thirdly, the leaders of both these nations are mostly spending their time and focus towards managing the problem rather than tackling the issue towards solving it. The management policy of the relations has also been a part of US foreign policy of keeping the conflict into a manageable limit so that a war does not come up. This has led to greater intractability of the conflict as core issue of conflict still remains largely unresolved (Crocker, Hampson, & Aall, 2005, p.315-317). The conflict between the two nations also assumes an intractable nature due to the arms race that has been started by the two nations. Both the nations are spending billions of dollars towards military expenses that has led to an arms race between the two nations. Moreover the issue of cross border terrorism in which India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of leading a proxy war against India by using its intelligence to fund militants. The area of Pakistan occupied Kashmir or PoK is considered to be used as a place for training terrorists. The entire Kashmir valley has bore the brunt of this malice of terrorism with huge loss of property and lives every year. The once paradise of the East as Kashmir was popularly called due to its vast natural beauty has been riddled with terrorism. This has also led to further souring of ties between the two nations. Both the nations were pushed to the brink of a war when the in December 2001, terrorists stormed and attacked the temple of the world’s largest democracy. India directly blamed Pakistan and its intelligence agency for harbouring the attack on Indian soil and termed the attack as an act of aggression (Times of India, 2011). A massive military build up was made along the Pakistani border, however with the efforts and mediation of the international community a war was averted. In addition to this there have been numerous other attacks by terrorists on the Indian soil that includes the hijacking of the Indian Airline flight in December 1999, the attack on temples in Gujarat as well as the famous 26/11 massacre that claimed many innocent lives. India has directly blamed Pakistan for harbouring terrorists and sponsoring cross border terrorism. There have also been considerable proof presented that many fugitives wanted for heinous crimes in India are being sheltered by Pakistan and its intelligence agency. Another important factor that has contributed largely towards ensuring intractability in the conflicts emerges from the political instability in Pakistan. The entire history of the nation since independence has been plagued with military coups and most of the time the nation has been under military rule. Along with this disturbances in its North Western borders with Afghanistan have also destabilised the nation. The military rulers had a history of bitter relationships with the Indian government. The aspect of huge control over the nation by the army has also reduced effective policy making and has also derailed peace processes between the two nations. India’s demand for extradition of terrorists wanted for heinous crimes has also been rejected by the Pakistan government. This has further weakened the already souring list of issues between the two nations leading to a situation where core issues remain at the helm. Contentious issues like accepting the Loc as the official border has also not been accepted by the two nations. Instances of cross border terrorism are also seen as efforts by a section of the extremist religious groups based in Pakistan to destabilise the peace process between the two nations. There has been confidence building measures by both sides however a lot more needs to be done to solve the root issue of contention so as to stop the conflict from getting more intractable in nature. Conclusion The analysis of the relations between the two Asian nations reveals considerable aspects that have made this conflict intractable in nature. It is very necessary to have peace in this region as an armed conflict between the two nuclear armed nations can lead to a global catastrophe. It is therefore very necessary to solve all contentious issues. However this is easier said than done as both sides are inflexible towards the core issue of Kashmir. However the restoration of democracy in Pakistan has opened up new hopes of peace between the nations. Confidence building measures like greater co-operation on various issues and fostering of trade and commerce can help in brokering peace between the nations. Recently Pakistan ranted India the Most Favoured nation status. All this along with bilateral talks between the leaders especially on the core issue of Kashmir can help reduce conflicts. The ceasefire on the borders is an indication of the generation of goodwill between the nations. Pakistan on its part must also ensure that no anti India activities are being sponsored or harboured in its soil and peace initiatives are not derailed. This would help in building confidence and generate friendliness in the strained relations between the two nations. The Pakistan military must also realise that harbouring anti India feelings would not lead to any conclusion and that a peace process can help resolve the contentious issues and help generate collective development of the two nations. References Crocker, C.A., Hampson, F. O. & Aall, P.R. (2005). Grasping the nettle: analyzing cases of intractable conflict. US Institute of Peace Press. Dutta, M. & Liang, L.F. (2009). The Asian economy and Asian money. Emerald Group Publishing. Ganguly, S., Diamond, L.J. & Plattner, M. (2007). The state of Indias democracy. JHU Press. Indurthy, R. (No date). Kashmir Between India and Pakistan: An Intractable Conflict, 1947 to Present. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www1.appstate.edu/~stefanov/Kashmir%20Between%20India%20and%20Pakistan.pdf. [Accessed on December 26, 2011]. Keen, S. (1998). The Partition of India. [Online]. Available at: http://english.emory.edu/Bahri/Part.html. [Accessed on December 26, 2011]. Khan, S. (2009). Nuclear Weapons and Conflict Transformation: The case of India-Pakistan. Routledge. Prabhakar, P.W. (2003). Wars, proxy-wars and terrorism: post independent India. Mittal Publications. Singh, J. (2001). With honour & glory: wars fought by India, 1947-1999. Lancer Publishers. Times of India. (2011). Parliament attack: India observes tenth anniversary. [Online]. Available at: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-12-13/india/30511266_1_country-and-murder-parliament-attack-afzal-guru. [Accessed on December 26, 2011]. Read More