Only some decades ago, there was no Pakistan. The land now called Pakistan was then part and parcel of the territory of undivided India, Pakistan came into existence when the Britishers, in pursuance to their policy of weakening and dividing the emancipated colonies, partitioned India into two countries at the time of Independence in 1947. Pakistan came into being as a result of the two-nations theory propounded by the Muslim League leader, Mohammad All Jinnah. Naturally the very foundation and the brick and mortar of the communal structure of Pakistan is hatred and enmity for India.
Since its inception Pakistan has been following a distinctly policy towards India. The cardinal principle of Pakistan’s foreign policy has been ‘Hate India’ and ‘Bait India’. In reality, anti-India policy and campaign has become the fundamental basis of her national policy toward off domestic trouble and internal discontent and to divert people’s attention from internal disorder to commercial frankly against India. In the international affairs also Pakistan has always taken an anti-India stance. India has always been acting in accordance with her ancient principles of mutual friendship, peaceful understanding and co-operation. Gandhiji laid down his life for the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity and Indo-Pak friendship. But, unfortunately Pakistan has always disappointed in this regard.
It was-just to spite India that Pakistan joined the Baghdad Pact now known as CENTO, and also SEATO Pact as because India had refused to join these power blocs which had been initiated by the Western bloc in pursuance of their cold war strategy against the Communist bloc. Pakistan joined these pacts to get free supply of huge military armaments and equipment, obviously to be used in a war against India.
Pakistan has been keeping a vulturous eye on Kashmir, a Muslim-majority state, then ruled by a Hindu king. She has made several abortive attempts to annex Kashmir through infiltration on through direct attacks, but each time her attempts have been repulsed by the vigilant Indian Armed Forces. First of all, Pakistan launched a full-scale attack on Kashmir in October 1947 to grab Kashmir. But it was foiled and taught a lesson of life by the Indian Armed Forces. Although, our Forces had cleared the greater part of the territory of Kashmir of the Pakistani invaders, still Pakistan occupies a large tract of Kashmir territory under the name of Azad Kashmir. Had the Cease-fire Argument of January 1,1949 been delayed even by two days, the whole tangle would have been resolved, for victory was within sight. And now Kashmir has become a cancerous sore for India.
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Pakistan waged another full-scale war with India in July-August, 1965—first in the Ranu of Kutch in April 1965 and then, over the whole of western and eastern boundaries bordering India. When the situation became really grave by Marshal Chou-en-Lai’s visit to Karachi on 4 September, 1965 and his open support for Pakistan, India decided to hit back. In the course of the twenty-two days war, Kashmir remained secure and Pakistan’s armour was humbled. Large areas of Pakistan territory were in Indian hands when the cease-fire took effect on 23 September, 1965. It was followed by the Tashkent Declaration between Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and President Ayub Khan on January 10, 1966. A few hours after this declaration was signed, our beloved Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri died under mysterious circumstances.
In the 1971 Indo-Pak War over Bangladesh, Pakistan was cleft into two parts as her Eastern wing became an independent sovereign country as Bangladesh. This was due to the inhuman policies of the West Pak government which they pursued in East Pakistan and the genocide of the Bengali intellectuals which they had committed and mass rapes and slaughter they had perpetrated. This war, owe of the briefest full-scale wars in the history of human warfare, established the superiority of the Indian Armed Forces beyond any shade of doubt. Pakistan must not have forgotten this crushing defeat in this war which lasted only for twelve days (5-17 Dec. 1971). Gen. Niazi had to lick the dust and surrender together with 95,000 soldiers. Pakistan has since then been arming herself to the teeth and itching for a show-down.
But India has always extended generously the hand of friendliness and peace towards Pakistan. Unfortunately, the fanatic and despotic rulers of Pakistan, whether Ayub, or Bhutto, or Yahya or Zia, have always spurned India’s friendly gestures. Even before the ink could dry on the Tashkent Declaration, Pakistan began violating the letter and the spirit of the agreement. Similar fate attended on the Simla Agreement after the 1971 war. This, despite the fact that India returned to Pakistan a big clunk of land won in the Western Sector and 95,000 Pakistani prisoners of war.
Pakistan did not learn any lesson from these debacles. She started fomenting trouble between India and Bangladesh. To an extent she seemed to succeed when the popular Bangla leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman brutally murdered together with his family and Bangladesh came under a pro-Pakistan regime. But that phase has now passed off.
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Stung to jealousy by India’s all-round progress-—economic, social, racial, communal and scientific, Pakistan has all along been pouring venom against India both nationally and internationally. When in 1974 India exploded her first nuclear device for peaceful purposes, Pakistan raised a lot of hue and cry all over the world in all conferences and assemblies and, thereby, prompted the U.S.A. and China to equip her with atomic and other deadly weapons of war. She has now acquired an atom bomb. She has been trying to create problems for India by assisting and abetting infiltrators and terrorists.
Recently, India has taken the initiative once again to develop good friendly relations with Pakistan, by re-establishing diplomatic and cultural relations which had been snapped at the time of the kargil war of 1971. Pakistan has also responded to India’s gesture, though with reservations. Trade and communication links have been restored. There have been exchange of visits of teams in Hockey, Cricket and other games, the last one being the six-match Pre-Olympic Hockey Test series in August 1988.
Let us hope that the Pakistan rulers would now realize the advantage of having mutually beneficial economic, cultural and political relations with India. If peace and mutual confidence prevails in relations between these two nations of Asia, each can benefit from the other and both the nations could utilize their talents and resources to resolve the gigantic problems facing them. But this will require a purging of heat and turning over a new leaf on the part of Pakistan, since India has been thrice bitten and quite naturally, she has reasons to be six-time shy.