Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Pakistan and the Neighbourhood
Few Friends
India does not get on well with most of its South Asian neighbours. This is partly because
of its often heavy-handed diplomacy, but also because of problems left over by history, not-
ably the partition of Pakistan from India in 1947 and the two countries' subsequent territ-
orial dispute over Kashmir. The turbulent relations between the two have upset the devel-
opment of South Asia as a region of trade and economic co-operation, as well as helping to
blight India's position with other neighbours.
The seven countries of the subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka and the Maldives - have a total population of 1.7bn and share much of the brain-
power and many of the other attributes and natural resources that have helped to fuel In-
dia's economic success. Yet the India-Pakistan stand-off, and the looming and interfering
presence of China, have meant that they largely fail to co-operate and share in India's relat-
ive success. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was
founded in 1985 to emulate South East Asia's ASEAN trade bloc, has achieved little. The
great potential that could be achieved by a unified approach to subjects like climate change,
hydro power and the environment as well as counter-terrorism, trade and joint investments
has not even been tackled.
India's relations with Pakistan have greater explosive acrimony and hostility than they
do with China, even though the border is less complicated because most of it is clearly
defined. There is a Line of Control (LoC) along a 776 km section in Jammu and Kashmir,
which is clear and is administered as a temporary arrangement, even though it is not form-
ally accepted by either country as a permanent border, and there are exchanges of fire
between the armies on either side. To the south, a 2,308-km formal border stretching down
to the Indian state of Rajasthan and Pakistan's Sindh province is undisputed and peaceful.
There is only a 110 km stretch, known as the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), which
Sir Creek. Lives are sometimes lost in the firings across the LoC (whereas none has been
lost in border disputes with China since 1993) and there have been three wars and one near-
war between the two countries since 1947.
