Pakistan occupies the North-Western corner of the Indian subcontinent. To the West is Iran, to the North-west Afghanistan, to the Northeast, China and to East India.

India and Pakistan were part of British India before Independence. It was partitioned due to ‘divide and rule policy’ of British. Pakistan has close ethnic, cultural and historical links with India. Common blood flows across the land. The trauma, agony and fratricidal conflicts of partition of 1947 still haunt the relationship between the two countries. The mutual distrust and animosity affect Indo-Pak relations.

1. Causes for Dispute: India and Pakistan represent not only different state systems but also different approaches towards society and polity. The undivided India was a nation many diversities and composite nationalism. During the struggle for liberation from British colonialism, Religious Communalism was promoted which spoiled the composite nationalism. After the achievement of independence with partition of the country.

India opted for Socio-cultural pluralism recognizing multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-regional and multicultural diversities, while Pakistan opted for a Islamic Democratic style by emphasizing religion as the major and operative principle of its nation-building. As a result, in India, the composite nationalism emerged with its secular overtones in Pakistan triumphant religious communalism with Islamic orientation emerged.

2. Kashmir Issue: In India’s Perspective Kashmir is an integral part of the Republic of India and to Pakistan, it is a disputed territory. The argument of Pakistan on Kashhmir is that, since the partition of the country was done on religious basis and majority of populations are Muslims, Kashmir should be part of Pakistan.

This argument failed to recognize the following facts:- 

1. Partition was done of the British Indian provinces and not of the Indian princely states.

2. National Conference was the only major political party in Kashmir, which was affiliated to Congress, it was opposed to Pakistan and had faith in secular politics.

3. The Indian princely states had the freedom to join either India or Pakistan.

4. India is a secular state consisted of multi-religious population. So, the Kashmiris formally decided to join India after the invasion of its territory by Pakistani tribals supported by the members of Pakistan Army.

3. Major Pacts: After wars between India and Pakistan in 1966 and 1971, both the countries affirmed the need for negotiated peaceful settlement of disputes in the Tashkent Declaration of 1966 between Lai Bahadur Sastri and Ayub Khan. In 1988 both the countries signed the agreement not to attack nuclear installation and facilities of each other, but in May 1999, Pakistan conducted the nuclear test at the Chagai Hills Region.

Though this has been reiterated by successive governments in Indio and Pakistan, the infiltration by well-armed Pakistani troops across the line of control (LoC) continued.

After the meeting in Lahore between the Indian Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in February 1999 with his historical bus journey to Pakistan the infiltration in the Kargil sector took place which cretated a war-like situation in Kashmir in June and July 1999.

There are indications that India and Pakistan are trying to overcome the past and build a future of mutual trust and understanding as independent countries with frequent visits of leaders of both countries, to discuss several bilateral issues. As a members of SAARC both countries are trying for solutions to their problems mutually and to establish peace in the South Asian region.