“The Pak-Indian relations will never be based on equality unless We develop ourselves equally with or more than India.”
After the Partition of India in 1947, Pakistan tried to live with India in peace and friendship. However, India attacked Kashmir and occupied it. Pakistan had to fight against India over the Kashmir issue. India approached the UN for a ceasefire (for stopping the war). At the time the war stopped, India promised that the Kashmiris would decide about joining India or Pakistan through a plebiscite (through voting). India never kept her promise. The Kashmiris rose in arms against the Indian forces. Pakistan supported the Kashmiri freedom movement all over the world and in the Un. In this way, Kashmir has been the main cause of dispute between the two countries.
In 1965, the Kashmiri freedom fighters started an armed struggle against the Indian forces in Kashmir. India could not face the struggle, and so attacked Pakistan. After three weeks of fighting, Pakistan and India met at Tashkent in Russia. With Russian help, it was agreed that Pakistan and India would solve their problems peacefully and according to the UN resolutions (decisions). Later, India did not act on the Tashkent agreement. In 1971, India started helping the East Pakistanis who wanted independence from Pakistan. India again fought a war against Pakistan and helped in the separation of East Pakistan from West Pakistan. [the_ad id=”17141″]After 1972, Pakistan tried to discuss the Kashmir problem with India several times, but each time India refused to honour the Simla Agreement. Trade and travel between the two countries started, but their relations continued to be unfriendly. They continued spending huge amounts on military preparations. The condition of the people of the two countries became worse.
The next cause of the worsening relations between the two countries was India’s explosion of the atom bomb in 1974. Pakistan had to start her own nuclear programme for the production of an atom bomb. Later, in 1989 the Kashmiri freedom fighters started a new powerful armed struggle against India.
In 1992, the Indian Hindus pulled down the Babari Mosque in Ayodhia and killed thousands of Muslims. Many temples in Pakistan were also destroyed. This further affected the Pak-Indian relations very badly. In 1998, both India and Pakistan exploded atom bombs, and now a new nuclear race started between them. The Kargil Battle between the Kashmiri freedom fighters and the Indian forces in 1999 was one of the final milestones in the worsening relations between the two countries. Finally, in 2001 India brought her forces to the Pakistani borders. Pakistan, too, brought her forces to the borders. The two countries were very close to a war, but it did not take place because of American and Russian efforts. It is clear that Kashmir lies at the basis of the differences between India and Pakistan. If this problem is solved according to the UN decisions, permanent peace between them can be established.
