India-Pakistan Relations: Issues, Problems and

Recent Developments
By T N Rao

India and Pakistan got independence in August 1947,

following a nationalist struggle lasting nearly three
decades. It set a vital precedent for the negotiated
winding up of British empires elsewhere.
Unfortunately, it was accompanied by the largest
mass migration in human history of some 10 million.
As many as one million civilians died in the
accompanying riots and local-level fighting,
particularly in the western region of Punjab which
was cut in two by the border. 1
On the basis of two nation theory, India divided into
two separate states - one with a Muslim majority
(Pakistan) and the other with a Hindu majority (India)
is commonly seen as the outcome of conflict between
the nations' elites.
After Pakistan, India attained independence; There
have been some of the issues which impacts on IndiaPakistan relations. Kashmir issue, water disputes,
terrorism, territorial disputes are main irritating
factors in India-Pakistan relations. 2
Nuclear issues and Kargil war also played the role in
straining relations between India and Pakistan. 3

Kashmir Issue:
In 1947, when British India was partitioned into India
and Pakistan, Hari Singh, Maharaja of Kashmir and

Jammu, Muslim majority state, resisted the pressure

to join either Pakistan or India hoping to get
independence or autonomy from both countries.
Maharaja Hari singh signed a standstill agreement
with Pakistan on August 16, and tried to sign a similar
agreement with India. However, following the
declaration of independence, communal rioting took
place in Punjab between the Hindus, Sikhs and
Muslims when the state was being divided between
India and Pakistan. In September 1947, the rioting
spilled into Kashmir against the Muslims. At that time,
Pakistan tried to occupy Kashmir by force, sent its
military troops into Kashmir.
Maharaja Hari Singh sought Indias military
assistance, but India refused to help unless the
Maharajah signed the instrument of accession, a
standard procedure under which other princely states
had acceded to India or Pakistan. India agreed to the
accession after receiving the consent of Sheikh
Abdullah, the secular and popular leader of the
National Conference (NC) in the state.
Hari Singh signed the accord on October 27 and on
the same day Indian armed forces entered Kashmir to
protect to it. Indian troops protected from the
Pakistani troops then Kashmir became as part of
India.
On January 1, 1948, Indias Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru following the advice of British Governor
General Lord Mountbatten and contrary to the wishes
of his Deputy Prime Minister Sarder Patel, lodged a
complaint against Pakistan to UN Security Council
invoking Articles 34 and 35 of the UN Charter that

called for a peaceful settlement of disputes between

India and Pakistan,.
On January 20, 1948, the Security Council
established a three-member UN commission on India
and Pakistan (UNCIP) to send them to Kashmir to
investigate the situation and exercise mediation. On
April 21, the Council expanded the commission to five
and authorized it to restore peace and arrange for a
plebiscite after the withdrawal of tribal troops.
The UNCIP on August 13, 1948 passed a resolution
that both on India and Pakistan to conduct a
plebiscite after they agreed to a cease-fire and after
Pakistans regular troops and tribesmen were
completely withdrawn. The cease-fire came into
effect on January 1, 1949, while Pakistan was still in
control of one-third of the state. Based on its
resolution of August 13, 1948, the UNCIP sent a
Monitoring Group for India and Pakistan (UNMGIP) to
the region on January 24, to monitor the cease-fire
line (CFL) which is also known as the line of control or
line of actual control (LAC).
The presence of the UNMIP was approved by India
and Pakistan following by their agreement in Karachi
on July 27, 1949. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz an
American was appointed as the plebiscite
administrator by the UN Secretary General, but he
could not assume his functions as India and Pakistan
objected to its implementation based on their varying
interpretations of the UNCIP resolutions on the issue
of demilitarization.
In December 1949, the Security Council entrusted its
President General A. G. L. McNaughton of Canada to

negotiate a demilitarization plan in consultation with

India and Pakistan. Pakistan agreed to simultaneous
demilitarization but India rejected.
On March 14, 1950, the Security Council passed
another resolution to follow up on McNaughtons
proposals and appointed the noted Australian judge,
Sir Owen Dixon, as UN representative to replace the
UNCIP. In September 1950, Dixon suggested a
proposal limiting the plebiscite only to the Kashmir
Valley of the predominantly Muslim population, which
both countries rejected.
In April 1951, the Council appointed Dr. Frank Graham,
former US Senator, as UN representative. Between
December 1951 and February 1953, Graham tried to
convince both India and Pakistan to accept his
Secretary Council-supported demilitarization
proposals that required the reduction of the military
presence of both countries in Kashmir and Azad
Kashmir preceding the conduct of a plebiscite.
Nehru and Pakistans Prime Minister, Mohammed Ali
Bogra, met in June 1953 at the commonwealth
conference in London. Following that meeting on
August 20, 1953, both India and Pakistan temporarily
agreed to take the issue out of UNs hands and
resolve it directly. However , in 1965, India, Pakistan
went for war .

The India-Pakistan War of 1965:

The war began in Apr., 1965, when fighting broke out
in the Rann of Kachchh, a sparsely inhabited region

along the West PakistanIndia border. In August

fighting spread to Kashmir and to the Punjab, and in
September Pakistani and Indian troops crossed the
partition line between the two countries and launched
air assaults on each other's cities. After threats of
intervention by China had been successfully opposed
by the United States and Britain, Pakistan and India
agreed to a UN-sponsored cease-fire and withdrew to
the pre-August lines. Prime Minister Shri Lal
Bahadur Shastri of India and President Ayub Khan of
Pakistan met in Tashkent, USSR (now in Uzbekistan),
in Jan., 1966, and signed an agreement pledging
continued negotiations and respect for the cease-fire
conditions. After the Tashkent Declaration another
period of relative peace ensued. The war impacted on
cold war politics.

U.S.-Pakistani relations had been more strong. The

U.S. Government looked to Pakistan as an example of
a moderate Muslim state and appreciated Pakistani
assistance in holding the line against communist
expansion by joining the Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization (SEATO) in 1954 and the Baghdad Pact
(later renamed the Central Treaty Organization, or
CENTO) in 1955. Pakistan's interest in these pacts
stemmed from its desire to develop its military and
defensive capabilities, which were substantially
weaker than those of India. Both the United States
and the United Kingdom supplied arms to Pakistan in
these years.

After Pakistani troops invaded Kashmir, India took the

Kashmir dispute to United Nations to reprise its role
in the First India-Pakistan War and end the conflict.
The Security Council passed Resolution 211 on
September 20 calling for an end to the fighting and
negotiations on the settlement of the Kashmir
problem, and the United States and the United
Kingdom supported the UN decision by cutting off
arms supplies to both belligerents. This ban affected
both belligerents, but Pakistan felt the effects more
keenly since it had a much weaker military in
caparison to India. The UN resolution and the halting
of arms sales had an immediate impact. India
accepted the ceasefire on September 21 and Pakistan
on September 22.
The ceasefire could not resolve the status of Kashmir,
and both sides accepted the Soviet Union as a thirdparty mediator. Negotiations in Tashkent concluded in
January 1966, with both sides giving up territorial
claims, withdrawing their armies from the disputed
territory. Nevertheless, although the Tashkent
agreement achieved its short-term aims, conflict in
South Asia would reignite a few years later.

The India-Pakistani War of 1971

Military conflict took the place between India and
Pakistan during the India-pakistan war of 1971. India
played the great role in the Bangladesh Independence.
US supported to Pakistan but not played the active
role in during the war period because India and USSR

signed the friendship treaty in 1971. During this war,

some of the East Pakistan people migrated to India
.However, Fresh from a victory in the 1971 war, Indira
Gandhi signed the Simla Agreement with Pakistan
Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, aiming to "put an
end to the conflict and confrontation" and maintain
the line of control that resulted from the ceasefire of
1971. Bhutto promised he would persuade his people
to accept its conversion into the international border.
India insisted the two nations would settle their
differences "by peaceful means through bilateral
negotiations". 4 The India- Pakistan war ended with
simla agreement.

Siachen Glacier

Siachen Glacier, 71km long and one of the world's

largest glaciers, is situated in the north of the
disputed region of Kashmir.This is a land seen by only
determined mountaineers or adventurers, a place that
can test human endurance against the rigours of high
altitude and turbulent terrain. But this is also the
worlds highest battleground, where two nuclear
armed states are locked in a struggle to keep a
foothold at heights of 6700 metres.

India claims that the entire state of J&K including

Northern Areas acceded to India on 26 Oct 1947.
Occupation of Saltoro is therefore occupation of

Indian territory by the Indian Army. It is nonnegotiable.

Indias stand that cartographic aggression by Pak must
cease. Many Pak Atlases show Siachen as part of
Pakistan.India agrees to establishment of a
demilitarized zone in Siachen. However before the
modalities begin, exchange of maps in which
deployment of troops on Actual Ground Position Line is
marked, must be exchanged.
Ground rules to govern future military operations in this
area must be formed.Redeployment of forces to mutually
agreed position should thereafter take place. 5

Sir Creek
The Sir Creek is a 96 km (60 mi) strip of water disputed
between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch
marshlands. The creek, which opens up into the Arabian
Sea, divides the Kutch region of the Indian state of
Gujarat with the Sindh province of Pakistan.

The dispute lies in the interpretation of the maritime

boundary line between Kutch and Sindh. Before India's
independence, the provincial region was a part of
Bombay Presidency of British India. After India's
independence in 1947, Sindh became a part of
Pakistan while Kutch remained a part of India.
Pakistan lays claim to the entire creek as per paras 9
and 10 of the Bombay Government Resolution of 1914

signed between then the Government of Sindh and

Rao Maharaj of Kutch. 6

Water disputes:
Pakistan claims that India is stealing water that is
rapidly becoming the core issue in the Pakistani
establishments narrative about bilateral problems.
Pakistan blames India, saying it is withholding
millions of cubic feet of water upstream on the
Chenab in Indian-administered Kashmir and storing it
in the massive Baglihar dam in order to produce
hydro-electricity. Its Indian neighbour, Pakistan
declares, is in breach of a 1960 treaty designed to
administer water use in the region.
The Indus Waters Treaty 1960 was signed on
19.09.1960 between India and Pakistan. It is however
came into force from 01.04.1960.
Under the Treaty, the waters of Eastern Rivers are
allocated to India. India is under obligation to let flow
the waters of the Western Rivers except for the
following uses: 7
(a) Domestic Use,
(b) Non-consumptive use,
(c) Agricultural use as specified,
(d) Generation of hydro-electric power as specified

Construction of Baglihar Dam, Tulbul Navigation

project became contentious issues between both
countries.

Energy Cooperation :
There can be cooperation between both countries in
the name of Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline. Pakistan,
India are interested in this project.

Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline project (also called

peace pipeline) was aimed at constructing a 1,620mile (2700 km) pipeline from Iran's South Pars fields
in the Persian Gulf to Pakistan's major cities of
Karachi and Multan and then further to Delhi, India. In
May 2009, Iran and Pakistan signed an initial
agreement for a USD 7.5bn Iran-Pakistan-India gas
pipeline..
The IPI project has not finalized because there is
some problems for India in terms of high pricing issue
with iran. 8 There is proposal for constructing the TAPI
pipeline inspite of IPI pipeline.

Terrorism
Terrorism remains our Indias concern in the
relationship with Pakistan and has been repeatedly
raised with Pakistan, including at the highest level,
whereby India has consistently urged Pakistan to
fulfill its repeated assurance given to us not to allow
the territory under its control to be used for

supporting terrorism directed against us or for any

other anti-India activity. More recently, during the
meeting of PM with PM Gilani in Maldives (November
10, 2011),PM underlined our concerns regarding
terrorism and stressed that it was imperative to bring
the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice.
During the meeting with President of Pakistan Asif Ali
Zardari in New Delhi on April 8, 2012, PM told
President Zardari that there was need for taking firm
action to curb terrorism to enable us to make forward
movement in bilateral relationship. PM conveyed that
it was imperative to bring the perpetrators of the
Mumbai attack to justice and prevent activities aimed
against India from Pakistani soil. In this context, he
mentioned the activities of Hafiz Saeed carried out in
public. Pakistan has been specifically requested to
take action against anti-India terrorist outfits such as
Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT)/ Jamaatud-Dawaa (JuD), and its
leaders such as Hafiz Saeed and Abdur Rehman Makki.
9

The Mumbai terrorist attack case in an Anti-Terrorism

Court in Pakistan against the seven persons arrested
in Pakistan in connection with the attack is ongoing.
A Pakistan Judicial Commission visited India in March
2012 and recorded statements of judicial and police
officials, who had recorded the lone surviving
accused Ajmal Kasabs confessional statement, and
two doctors who had conducted postmortem on the
terrorists involved in the attack. The Anti Terrorism

Court upheld the contention of the defence that the

report of the Judicial Commission was not legal and
could not form part of the case, since the witnesses
were not cross-examined. The request of Pakistan
authorities to allow another visit of the Commission to
India for cross-examining the four witnesses
mentioned above is under consideration of the Indian
authorities.

Narcotics Control and Organised Crime

Following talks between Director Generals of
Narcotics Control Bureau of India and the AntiNarcotics Force of Pakistan in Islamabad on
September 12-13, 2011, the two sides signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on Drug Demand
Reduction and Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in
Narcotics Drugs/ Psychotropic Substances and
Precursor Chemicals and related matters for
enhancing mutual cooperation through effective and
sustained steps to control the growing menace of
drug trafficking.
In their meeting in May 2012, the Home/ Interior
Secretaries of the two countries decided, in principle,
to initiate negotiations on a Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaty in order to strengthen mutual cooperation in
criminal matters. 10

Trade and Economic Relations

As mentioned earlier, bilateral trade had benefited

from the Composite Dialogue process which had
begun in 2004. However, it declined after the Mumbai
terror attack. In the financial year 2010-11 the
bilateral trade was USD 2.67 billion, with Indias
exports to Pakistan worth USD 2.33 billion. 11
The visit of the Senior Federal Minister of Commerce
of Pakistan Makhdom Muhamad Ameen Fahim to India
from 29th September to 3rd October 2011 was the
first such visit after a gap of 35 years. During the
visit, he met the Indian Minister for Commerce and
Industry, called on Prime Minister and addressed joint
India-Pakistan business sessions organized by the
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) in Mumbai and Delhi. Both sides
agreed to jointly work for more than doubling bilateral
trade within three years from the current level of USD
2.7 billion. The sides also agreed to cooperate on
preferential trade relations under the framework of
the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). The
two Ministers mandated the Commerce Secretaries to
pursue with vigour the task of fully normalizing
bilateral trade relations, dismantle all non-tariff
barriers, full implementation of SAFTA obligations and
prepare the roadmap for grater preferential trading
arrangements between India and Pakistan.
The visit of the Commerce, Industry and Textiles
Minister Shri Anand Sharma to Pakistan from 13-17
February 2012 was the first ever bilateral visit of an

Indian Commerce Minister to Pakistan. The Minister

was accompanied by a 100-strong delegation of senior
captains and representatives of Indias trade and
industry segments. He presided over the closing of
India Show the first ever India-specific trade
exhibition in Pakistan - in Lahore, which had
participation of over 150 representatives of Indian
business, trade and industry organizations. He visited
Karachi, where he addressed representatives of
business community. The Minister held bilateral talks
with his counterpart in Islamabad, where he also
participated in the 6th Meeting of SAFTA Council of
Ministers on February 16.

Humanitarian issues and People-to-People Contacts

According to the information provided by Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, there were 136 fishermen
from India in Pakistani custody as on July 1, 2012. Out
of these, 55 were released on August 16, 2012
(bringing to 603 the total number of Indian fishermen
released by Pakistan in 2012). Though Indian civil
prisoners believed to be in the custody of Pakistan
authorities number 223, the list provided by Pakistani
authorities on July 1, 2012 acknowledges presence of
only 59 prisoners. Over the past three years (2010,
2011 and 2012 so far) Pakistan has released 19, 13
and 23 prisoners, respectively.

12

India has been consistently taking up with

Government of Pakistan, at all appropriate levels, the
issue concerning all Indian prisoners, including
fishermen, in Pakistani jails or under the custody of
Pakistan authorities. Steps have been taken to
implement the understanding reached between the
Home/ Interior Secretaries of the two countries in
March 2011 for releasing without delay the fishermen
and civilian prisoners who complete their sentence,
whose nationality has been confirmed by the
respective government and whose travel documents
have been received. In their meeting in May 2012,
Home/ Interior Secretaries agreed to release such
fishermen, along with their boats, and to transfer to
charitable institutions in the respective country those
prisoners whose nationality status has not been
confirmed due to either lack of information or
disabilities of the prisoner concerned. Talks were held
between the Director General of the Indian Coast
Guard and the Director General of the Pakistan
Maritime Security Agency in New Delhi in July 2012
with the view to set up a mechanism for the release of
inadvertent crossers (fishermen) and their boats on
the same lines as inadvertent crossers on land.
India-Pakistan Judicial Committee on Prisoners,
consisting of four retired judges from each side, has
been active in recommending steps for humane
treatment and expeditious release of prisoners of
each country in the others jail/ custody, and adoption
of a humane approach in dealing with cases of

fishermen and prisoners, especially women, elderly,

juvenile, and those terminally ill or suffering from
serious illness or physical / mental disability. Members
of the Committee visited Pakistan from April 18-23,
2011 and visited jails in Karachi, Rawalpindi and
Lahore. They visited India (Delhi, Jaipur, Amritsar)
from January 23-27, 2012
On April 9, 2012, the Supreme Court of India granted
bail to Dr Khalil Chisti an octogenarian Pakistan
national serving sentence on murder charges in India,
and later allowed him to travel to Pakistan on certain
conditions. The leadership of Pakistan and a number
of civil society activists had appealed for Dr. Chishtis
release. An Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh, awaits
disposal of his mercy petitions to the President of
Pakistan.
The first Visa Agreement with Pakistan was signed on
September 14, 1974. Since then the Agreement was
revised in 1986 and 1990 with the exchange of notes
between the two countries. Home/Interior Secretaries
had decided in March 2011 to set up JWG on Visa
related issues. The JWG has since finalised a mutually
agreed text of the Agreement. It is yet to be signed.
In order to facilitate travel between the two countries,
different train and bus services run between the two
countries. The train services in operation between
India and Pakistan are (i) Samjhauta Express
(biweekly, with termini in Lahore and Delhi); AttariWagah rail route is also open for movement of freight

trains; and (ii) weekly Thar Express from MunabaoIndia to Zero Point Railway Station near Khokrapar
Pakistan. Bus services run between India and
Pakistan on the following routes: Delhi-Lahore (all
days except Sunday), Amritsar-Lahore (twice a week)
and Amritsar-Nanankana (twice a week).
In order to enable people on both sides of the Line of
Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir to move freely
and trade with one another, cross-LoC Confidence
Building Measures (CBMs) have been put in place and
are being strengthened. These include trade and
travel on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and PoonchRawalakot routes across the LoC. The number of
trading days across these two points was increased
from two to four per week, in accordance with the
decision taken by External Affairs Minister and
Foreign Minister Khar in their meeting in July 2011 in
New Delhi. The two sides are discussing a number of
other measures to facilitate cross-LoC travel and
trade, including allowing multiple entry permits for
travel, and strengthening infrastructure.
Government assists, in coordination with authorities
in Pakistan, groups of Indian pilgrims which visit
designated religious places in Pakistan under a 1974
Protocol, which specifies such places in both
countries.

References

Inventing Boundaries: gender, politics and the Partition of Indiaedited by Mushirul Hasan (New
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000)
2

http://www.pildat.org/publications/publication/FP/PakistanIndiaRelations-AnIndianNarrative.pdf

http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol2-issue3/B0230610.pdf

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/1972-silver-jubilee-of-independence-simlaagreement/1/155578.html
5

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/strategic-importance-of-siachen/

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/defence-strategic-issues/14733-sir-creek-dispute-betweenindia-pakistan.html
7

Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India. http://wrmin.nic.in/index3.asp?

sslid=443&subsublinkid=287&langid=1
8

http://www.iapg.org.ar/WGC09/admin/archivosNew/Special%20Projects/3.%20IGU%20GMI
%20Guidelines/3.%20IGU%20GMI%20Guidelines%20FINAL%20-%20CD%20contents/Iran
%20Pakistan%20India.pdf
9

MEA, Government of India. http://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/pakistan-august2012.pdf

10

Ibid.

11

ibid

12