Contours of Indo-Pak relations since 1947

 

India and Pakistan share linguistic, cultural, geographic, and economic links, yet their relation has been complex due to a number of historical and political events. Ever since independence in 1947, their relations have been such that the talks of business, cooperation and peace have often changed into the threats of war.

The two nations have fought four wars till date but the Indo-Pak relations have been majorly defined by the violent partition of British India in 1947 and the Jammu & Kashmir conflict.

Since the 1990s, the insurgency in Kashmir and incidents of terrorism in other parts of India have affected their bilateral relations. Horrific terrorist attacks in India, such as the Mumbai bombings in 2005, Mumbai attacks in 2008, Pathankot attack in 2016 and Pulwama suicide bombings in 2019 have often blew a hole in the peace process between India and Pakistan.

The partition of India was one of the largest human migrations witnessed ever that displaced up to 12.5 million people, with an estimated loss of life of 1 million. This was when the first India-Pakistan war was fought, over Kashmir. The war officially ended on January 1, 1949, when a ceasefire line was established by the United Nations.

In 1965, India and Pakistan fought their second war, that was preceded by skirmishes that took place between the two nations, post which Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) emerged as a free country. In July 1972, the Simla Agreement was signed between the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Pakistani counterpart Prime Minister Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto, that designated the ceasefire line as “Line of Control (LoC).”

In the early 1990s, Pak-armed insurgency began in the Kashmir Valley. Despite centuries of communal harmony in Jammu & Kashmir, the Kashmir Pandits were targeted by the militants and forced to migrate. Many Islamic terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taibah, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Hizbul Mujahideen continued to be active in Jammu & Kashmir.   

In 1999, the Kargil conflict broke out when Pakistani forces intruded and occupied strategic positions on the Indian side of the LoC. The 2001 Indian Parliament attack brought the two nations to the brink of a nuclear war. Additionally, the 2008 Mumbai attacks carried out by Lashkar-e-Taibah, resulted in a severe blow to the ongoing India–Pakistan peace talks.

After a brief thaw following the election of new governments in both countries, bilateral discussions again hindered after the 2016 Pathankot attack by Jaish-e-Muhammad. After the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing attack, the Indian government revoked Pakistan's most favoured nation trade status, which it had granted to Pakistan in 1996. India also increased the custom duty to 200% .

In August 2019, following the approval of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill in the Indian Parliament, which revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, further tension was brought between the two countries, with Pakistan downgrading their diplomatic ties and suspending bilateral trade with India. Article 370 repeal has levelled up bilateral tensions in a big way, ensuring that India-Pakistan relations will be very questionable for the foreseeable future.