Causes & Conflicts of the Indo-Pakistani Wars

War between India and Pakistan erupted again in 1965. Earlier in the year, India and Pakistan clashed over disputed boundaries. And then, in August, Pakistan tried to invade all of Kashmir. But this time around, both sides of the conflict possessed greater firepower thanks to the Cold War. The United States and Great Britain had supported India after a border conflict with China, and had armed Pakistan after it joined two organizations to limit communist expansion. This second Indo-Pakistani war quickly reached a stalemate.

The U.S. and U.K. agreed to cut off weapons shipments to both belligerents in support of a U.N. cease-fire, although this loss hurt Pakistan more. The Soviet Union stepped in to mediate a withdrawal. In January 1966, both governments signed the Tashkent Declaration, vowing to solve future disputes through diplomatic means.

When Pakistan was originally created, back in 1947, the Muslim nation was divided geographically. Religion was about the only thing that East and West Pakistan had in common. In 1970, residents of East Pakistan elected parliamentary leaders that called for secession. When the Pakistani army forcibly blocked the new party from ruling and jailed its leader, protests erupted. Brutal suppression led to civil war between Eastern guerilla forces and the Pakistani military in 1971, and the movement of ten million refugees into India. The conflict grew when India invaded East Pakistan to support the independence movement.

Beginning in 1996, Pakistan and India arranged a series of meetings to defuse the tensions between them, especially since by then both had become nuclear powers. But, in May 1999, war broke out once again. India discovered troops high in the mountains on their side of the Line of Control in Kashmir and blamed the Pakistani army. Pakistan denied the charges, asserting that the troops were freedom fighters. In reality, the invasion force consisted of Kashmiri rebels, Pakistani army regulars and foreign Muslim jihadis.

Let's review. Ever since the subcontinent of India was divided into two states, the new nations of Pakistan and India have been rivals, especially over Kashmir, where war erupted in 1947 and 1965. East Pakistan became the new nation of Bangladesh in 1971. In 1999, Pakistan attempted to invade the mountainous Kargil region of Kashmir, inciting fresh conflict between the two nuclear powers, and instigating a military coup in Pakistan.

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