Indo-Pak Relations

The relations between India and Pakistan have always been changing. The very birth of Pakistan was accompanied by a lot of blood bath and communal riots. India was broken up into the units – India and Pakistan. Pakistan was then (1947) made up of West Pakistan and East Pakistan. In course of time, East Pakistan raised a banner of revolt and got an independent status in the form of Bangladesh. The present Pakistan is thus a truncated Pakistan, Pakistan has always been holding India responsible for this break-up of their country.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir is another bone of contention between India and Pakistan. While the various elected governments and state assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir have accepted the state as a part and parcel of India, Pakistan refuses to accept this. It says that Kashmir is a disputed area and the status of Jammu and Kashmir should be decided through a plebiscite. Pakistan has fought three wars with India in 1965, 1971 and the Kargil war in 1998. Having lost all these wars, it now continues to fight a proxy war by sending trained extremists to India in order to create chaos and destruction in the country. The Indian forces have all the time to remain on their toes to thwart all attempts at infiltration by these armed militants and to fight them out whenever they are detected. In such a scenario a state of permanent peace and goodwill between the neighbouring countries appears to be a distant dream.

Different governments in India have, at different times, extended a hand of friendship towards Pakistan. Even though outwardly the Pak authorities pretend to work for peace, they do not make any sincere efforts. At times there is a temporary lull and the two countries appear to be coming closer, but the extremist elements and anti-India forces in Pakistan do not allow this for a long stint.

In November 2008, a group of 10-12 Pakistani terrorists entered India through the sea route and attacked Mumbai, the commercial hub of India. They were heavily armed. The Indian forces had to fight for full five days to kill them. More than 150 Indian citizens were killed in the process. This tragic incident has once again strained the relations between the two countries. The government of India has been asking Pakistan to destroy the terrorist training camps in their country and bring the militants to justice. But the response is quite half-hearted, insincere, and ineffective.

In such a situation, tension continues to rule the roost. The two countries are engaged in an arms race and a diplomatic offensive to justify their respective stands. The whole world has now come to realize that Pakistan has to mend its ways for a respectable place in the comity of nations. God alone knows when the voice of sanity will come to be heard in that country. For the time being, there appears to be no hope. India, in the meantime, continues to harp on the need of healthy friendly relations between the two countries.