INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• India and its neighborhood- relations.

• Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India
and/or affecting India’s interests.
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on
India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
• Important International institutions, agencies and for their structure,
mandate.

• Even though India and Pakistan shares common ethnic,

linguistic and cultural aspects The relationship have been
complex and largely hostile due to a number of historical and
political factors like the partition of India , the Kashmir
conflict , numerous military confrontations and terrorism.

• At the core of the animosity lies the Kashmir conflict.

• For the past seventy years, India–Pakistan relations have been

fraught. It is one of ‘the most enduring rivalries of the post-
World War II era’.

 The Partition

• In 1947 British India divided on religious lines to form two

independent nations India and Pakistan.

• The partition causes one of the largest human migration

ever seen and it sparked wide spread riots and violence.

• It displaced nearly 13 million people and led to the death of

nearly a million people

Kashmir conflict
• Kashmir remains at the crux of the tortured relationship
between India and Pakistan.
• India and Pakistan fought three wars and numerous small
scale armed conflicts over Kashmir.
• After the end British rule Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir
choose to remain independent and offered a standstill
agreement with Pakistan and India to allow free movement
of goods and people . Pakistan signed the agreement but
India didn’t .
• As Kashmir being a Muslim majority state Pakistan believed
it legitimately belong to them and made various efforts to
persuade the Maharaja to join Pakistan without any
success.

• Pakistan started to violate the standstill agreement by obstructing the

flow of essential goods to Kashmir through Punjab and instigating an
insurgency against the Maharaja.
• On October 22nd 1947 Pashtun and Mehsud tribal raiders from
NWFP attacked Kashmir (Operation Gulmarg ) with the active
support from Pakistan military to occupy Kashmir .
• The Maharaja requested India’ s military assistance and India advised
the Maharaja to sign the Instrument of Accession before India
sending it’s troops .
• Maharaja signed the Treaty in 26th October 1947 . And the Indian
troops started their deployment in Kashmir on the very next day.

• India took the matter to the United Nations and agreed

to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir to ascertain the wishes of
the Kashmiris.
• The plebiscite was conditional upon the withdrawal of
Pakistani troops from Kashmir and the restoration of the
situation to the pre 1947 position. This condition was
never met by Pakistan and the plebiscite also never came
to be conducted.
• The 1949 ceasefire left the state divided by the ceasefire
line , which later modified by Shimla agreement.
• In 1954 the accession of J&K to India is ratified by the
state’s constituent assembly.

• 1957 Jammu Kashmir constituent assembly adopted a

constitution.

• In 1963 Pakistan ceded the Shaksgam valley of the

occupied Kashmir to china as part of a Frontier
agreement.

• 1965 India and Pakistan fought their second war over

Kashmir.

 • 1972 Simla Agreement designated the ceasefire line of

December 1971 as LOC. And agreed to resolve the
Kashmir dispute through bilateral discussions which in
effect ruled out any third party intervention in the
matter.

• After the complete defeat in 1971 war Pakistan started

to actively support insurgent groups like JKLF in Kashmir
. The insurgency spiked especially after 1987 and India
imposed AFSPA in the state in 1990 .

• 1989 – 2003 saw large scale terrorist attacks in Kashmir

with the active support from Pakistan . During the mid
1990s highly radicalized transnational Islamist groups
like Jaish e Muhammed , and Lashker e taiba became
Pakistan main weapons against India.

• The insurgency in Kashmir reduced by 2003, largely due

to a Ceasefire declared by both countries.

• The insurgency started to re emerge after 2014 and

Pakistan increased ceasefire violations along the border.

Wars and conflicts

1965 war ;
• The war began following Pakistan’s operation Gibraltar , in
August which was designed as an infiltration operation into
Jammu Kashmir by Pakistani troops disguised as locals to
instigate a popular insurgency against Indian rule but the
operation failed as the locals instead of revolting informed
the Indian military about the infiltration .
• India retaliated by attacking Pakistani military positions .
The war soon precipitated into other parts of the India –
Pakistan border .
• The war saw heavy tank and air battles.

 • During the war India recaptured the strategically

important Hajipir pass.

• The war ended in a UN mandated ceasefire on 23rd

September .

• US imposed arms embargo against India and Pakistan.

• In January 1966 Indian prime minister Lal Bahadaur

shastri and Pakistan president Ayyub khan signed
Tashkent declaration.

Bangladesh liberation war of 1971

• Political crisis In Pakistan after 1970 Parliament election

led to a civil war in East Pakistan.

• Pakistan accused India of supporting the rebel forces in

East Pakistan and unilaterally attacked Indian Forward
Airbases and radar installations (Operation chengiz khan
inspired by operation focus)

• India retaliated by a massive military campaign which

ended in just 13 days with the surrender of Pakistan
forces in the east Pakistan.

• During the war the Indian navy conducted its first

offensive operation against an enemy port ( Karachi
port - Operation Trident and Operation Python)

• East Pakistan became the independent nation of

Bangladesh.

• 2 nd July 1972 India and Pakistan signed Shimla

agreement; Pakistan recognized the sovereignty of
Bangladesh in return for the release of its POWs and
Pakistan accepted Kashmir dispute as a bilateral issue
which in effect negated the prospect of a third party
involvement in the dispute.

Siachen conflict
• Neither the 1949 Karachi agreement nor the 1972 Simla
agreement clearly specified who controlled the glacier.

• In 1984 India occupied Siachen.

• In April 1984 India successfully conducted a military

operation code named operation Meghdoot to secure
strategic passes to the glacier.
• India and Pakistan signed a ceasefire agreement in 2003.

Why Siachen is important for India?

• The Siachen glacier demarcates central Asia from the Indian

subcontinent, and separates Pakistan from China in the region.

• The Saltoro Ridge of the Siachin glacier serves as a divide that

prevents direct linking of PoK with China, stopping them to
develop geographical military linkages in the area.

• Siachen also serves as a watchtower for India to keep a deep

watch on Gilgit and Baltistan regions of Pakistan.

• If Pakistan gets the location advantage in Siachen, it would become

a big threat to India from the west in Ladakh in addition to Chinese
threats from Aksai Chin of the east.

Kargil war 1999

• During the winter of 1998 – 99 Pakistan infiltrators
occupied vacated Indian military posts on high peaks in the
kargil sector .
• Indian army discovered about this in may 1999 . Backed by
the Indian Airforce the army regained most of the occupied
posts (Operation Vijay). Pakistan later withdrew from the
remaining posts under international pressure .
• It was the first armed conflict between the countries after
they acquired nuclear weapons.