Indo-Pakistani Confederation

The concept of an Indo-Pakistani Confederation advocates

for a political confederation consisting of the sovereign states
of India and Pakistan as a means of ending bilateral conflicts
and promoting common interests in defence, foreign affairs,
and cultural and economic development.[1] While this idea
does not propose to end the sovereign existence of either
nation through reunification, it is aimed to resolve the conflicts
afflicting the Indian subcontinent since the partition of India in
1947.[2]

Contents
Background
Confederation
Reactions
See also Map of South Asia

References
External links

Background
The partitioning of India formally came into effect on 14 August 1947, dividing the provinces of Bengal
(with East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) and Punjab (with West Pakistan, now Pakistan proper) to create a
separate nation (from India) as outlined by the Pakistan Movement, which advocated the "Two-Nation
Theory" — that Muslims and Hindus cannot sustain a nation together because of religious differences that
would prove too difficult to compromise on or, in some cases, simply impossible to reach a mutual
consensus on.[3] The partition provoked great communal conflicts and shortly afterwards, a major dispute
over the territory of Kashmir (a former princely state under the British Raj which was sovereignly claimed
in full by both the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan) sparked a large-scale war between the
two neighbouring countries. India and Pakistan have, since their independence, engaged in four armed
conflicts against each other (1947, 1965, 1971, 1999), all of them stemming from their disputes in Kashmir
with the exception of the war in 1971. However, some diplomatic efforts have succeeded in promoting
bilateral trade and sports events between the two nations as well as permitting Indians and Pakistanis to
peacefully cross the border and visit through services provided by the Samjhauta Express and the Delhi-
Lahore binational bus route. The 1972 Shimla Agreement and subsequent bilateral accords have bound
both nations to seek a peaceful solution to the Kashmir conflict while promoting trade and economic
cooperation.

Confederation
Some politicians and academicians in India and Pakistan have promoted the concept of a confederation
between the two republics as a means to resolve their conflicts while promoting common cultural bonds,
economic development and solidarity in major issues, with a ceremonial head of state and important posts
held alternately by Indians and Pakistanis.[4][1] Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and Chief
Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah supported the idea.[5] In 1972, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the
Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan, explored the possibility of a Pakistan-India Confederation
and asked "the Government-owned Pakistan Times to write in favour of India-Pakistan confederation."[4]
Some advocates of the concept perceive the two-nation theory to have been a failure, being unable to
resolve conflicts between Muslims and Hindus, and that a closer bonding of the two nations would be the
best possible solution and bring about a greater possibility of peace, prosperity and progress in the region.[6]
According to some advocates, such an arrangement would not only end the Kashmir conflict and bring
about peace, but would forge a powerful geopolitical entity of equal standing with various global powers
such as the United States, European Union, Russia and China.[1] As a result of a confederation between
Pakistan and India, M. V. Kamath said that instead of spending exorbitant amounts of money on defense,
the Indo-Pakistani Confederation would have funds "available for constructive activities like health,
education and economic infrastructure."[1] Kamath appealed to the Hindu–Muslim unity demonstrated in
the War of Indian Independence in 1857 as support for an Indo-Pakistani Confederation.[1] The Indo-
Pakistani Confederation, according to Kamath, would have a common currency and a common
Parliament.[1]

Former Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari called for an Indo-Pakistani Confederation that
would be "based on the principle of equality" and in which "India, Pakistan and Bangladesh should remain
separate, and yet together on issues of common concern and common benefit."[2] According to Pakistani
historian Ayesha Jalal and former Pakistani Prime Minister Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar, the Lahore
Resolution originally called for a Hindustan-Pakistan Confederation in a United India, not for Pakistan as a
separate state from the rest of India.[7] Chundrigar "said that the object of the Lahore Resolution was not to
create Ulsters (a reference to the violent separatist movement aimed at Northern Ireland's independence
from the United Kingdom), not to 'destroy the unity of India', but to get the 'two nations (Pakistan and
Hindustan)... welded into united India on the basis of equality'.[7] Harry Hodson, the Reforms
Commissioner in India in 1941, said that leaders of the All-India Muslim League "interpreted Pakistan as
consistent with a confederation".[7]

Lieutenant General Asad Durrani, the former director-general of both Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
and Military Intelligence, envisioned in 2018 a future Indo-Pakistan Confederation that would possess a
common currency and laws.[8] Durrani stated that such an Indo-Pakistan Confederation would soften the
borders of India and Pakistan and eventually integrate the armed forces of both entities, paving the way for
Indian reunification, in which Delhi would serve as the capital city.[8]

Asghar Ali Engineer envisaged a broader confederation between the members of the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka - akin to the European Union.[9][1] Dinanath Mishra supported such a
confederation, and believed that along with India, "Countries like Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka may
be willing to start the process this decade itself".[10]

Pakistani Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, advocated an Indo-Pakistani
Confederation that would govern the state of Jammu and Kashmir, "taking responsibility for defence,
currency and foreign affairs".[1]

Critics have described the proposal as naïve and impractical given the extent of mutual distrust and
antagonism between India and Pakistan after decades of consistent fighting and skirmishes.[11]
Reactions
The idea of a confederation gained prominence with the endorsement of senior Indian political leader and
then-Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who on April 29, 2004, said in an interview to the
Pakistani newspaper Dawn, that he envisaged both nations coming together to form a confederation: "I
conceive that there would be a time when decades hence, both the countries would feel that partition has
not solved matters. Why not come together and form some form of confederation or something like
that."[12][6][13] Another senior Indian politician, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia had similarly advocated the idea.
This public endorsement from Advani, a prominent Hindu leader, gave rise to much speculation and media
coverage, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan responded by calling the idea a "mirage," stating
that both nations were sovereign in their own right and this status was in their view "irreversible."[13] On
the other hand, Pakistani leader Altaf Hussain who founded the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has had a
favourable stance towards an India-Pakistan confederation, saying that such a confederation would "set
another example like the European Union."[14] Some leaders throughout other nations of South Asia have
discussed the practicality of this idea. Some advocates added ideas such as the two nations retaining their
sovereignty but issuing and dealing in the same currency and also signing an accord with which they can
resolve problems related to defence with world powers like the United States, European Union and
Russia.[1]

Some Pakistani commentators have argued that Indian leaders specifically rejected the notion of such a
confederation during the early years of the Cold War, when Pakistan attempted to covertly contact India to
outline the possibility of Indo-Pakistani defence cooperation in Kashmir against growing Chinese ambitions
in the region,[15] which was rejected by India with the reasoning that the entirety of Kashmir is an integral
part of India alone which shuts down the question of any Pakistani presence in the region.[1] Others have
contended that two nations did not necessarily imply two states, and the fact that Bangladesh did not merge
with India despite the cultural similarities (especially with Indian Bengal) after separating from Pakistan
supports the initial two-nation theory professed by the Pakistan Movement.

See also
Greater India
India–Pakistan relations
Partition of India
Opposition to the Partition of India
Indian reunification

References
1. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions" (https://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051113/e
dit.htm). www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
2. "Indian author moots confederation to settle Kashmir issue" (https://www.dawn.com/news/13
05116). DAWN.COM. December 29, 2016.
3. Two-nation theory (http://www.country-studies.com/pakistan/the-two-nations-theory.html)
4. Qāsim, Sayyid Mīr (1992). My Life and Times. Allied Publishers. p. 102. ISBN 978-81-7023-
355-8.
5. Wright, Denis (1989). India-Pakistan Relations, 1962-1969. Sterling Publishers. p. 50.
6. Advani moots Indo-Pak confederation (http://www.siasat.com/english/index2.php?option=co
ntent&do_pdf=1&id=261035)
 7. Kulkarni, Sudheendra (August 14, 2015). "Pakistan Without Partition: Let's Revive The
Buried Idea Of Indo-Pak Confederation" (https://www.huffingtonpost.in/sudheendra-kulkarni/
pakistan-without-partitio_b_7986022.html). HuffPost.
8. A. S. Dulat, Aditya Sinha, Asad Durrani (2018). The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the
Illusion of Peace. HarperCollins. p. 223. ISBN 978-93-5277-926-0.
9. Asghar Ali Engineer - IISCSSS (http://ecumene.org/IIS/csss64.htm) Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20080514071152/http://ecumene.org/IIS/csss64.htm) 2008-05-14 at the
Wayback Machine
10. Mishra, Dinanath (July 12, 2002). "Dinanath Mishra on the idea of a confederation" (https://w
ww.rediff.com/news/2002/jul/12guest.htm). Rediff.com. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
11. Rediff (http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/jul/12guest.htm)
12. Indian Express (http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990307/ige07052.htm
l)
13. Advani's remarks on Indo-Pak union a 'mirage' (http://news.indiainfo.com/2004/03/03/0303p
ak.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20050422023302/http://news.indiainfo.com/2
004/03/03/0303pak.html) 2005-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
14. Hussain, Altaf (July 22, 2001). "A Muhajir's Prayer" (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/A-M
uhajirs-Prayer/articleshow/494482109.cms). Times of India.
15. "Central Intelligence Agency" (https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79T00
472A000600010008-7.pdf) (PDF). The Kashmir Dispute – Intelligence Memorandum. 20
September 1965. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170123172238/https://www.cia.g
ov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79T00472A000600010008-7.pdf) (PDF) from the
original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

External links
Indian author moots confederation to settle Kashmir issue (https://www.dawn.com/news/130
5116)
Pakistan Without Partition: Let's Revive The Buried Idea Of Indo-Pak Confederation (https://
www.huffingtonpost.in/sudheendra-kulkarni/pakistan-without-partitio_b_7986022.html)
Indo-Pak confederation? By Ghulam Muhammad (https://www.milligazette.com/Archives/010
62001/08.htm)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indo-Pakistani_Confederation&oldid=1044696183"

This page was last edited on 16 September 2021, at 15:51 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.