Wars and Peace with Pakistan In the case of Pakistan, the conflict started just after partition over the dispute on Jammu and Kashmir. You will read more about the dispute in Chapter . A proxy war broke out between the Indian and Pakistani armies in Jammu and Kashmir during itself. But this did not turn into a full war.
The issue was then referred to the UN. Pakistan soon emerged as a critical factor in India’s relations with the US and subsequently with China. The Kashmir conflict did not prevent cooperation between the governments of India and Pakistan. Both the governments worked together to restore the women abducted during partition to their original families.
A long-term dispute about the sharing of river waters was resolved through mediation by the World Bank. The India- Pakistan Indus Waters Treaty was signed by Nehru and General Ayub Khan in . Despite all ups and downs in the Indo-Pak relations, this treaty has worked well. A more serious armed conflict between the two countries began in .
As you would read in the next chapter, by then Lal Bahadur Shastri had taken over as the Prime Minister. In April Pakistan launched armed attacks in the Rann of Kutch area of Gujarat. This was followed by a bigger offensive in Jammu and Kashmir in August- September. Pakistani rulers were hoping to get support from the local population there, but it did not happen.
In order to ease the pressure on the Kashmir front, Shastri ordered Indian troops to launch a counter-offensive on the Punjab border. In a fierce battle, the Indian army reached close to Lahore. The hostilities came to an end with the UN intervention. Later, Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistan’s General Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Agreement, brokered by the Soviet Union, in January .
Though India could inflict considerable military loss on Pakistan, the war added to India’s already difficult economic situation. Bangladesh war, Beginning in , Pakistan faced its biggest internal crisis. The country’s first general election produced a split verdict – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s party emerged a winner in West Pakistan, while the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujib-ur Rahman swept through East Pakistan. The Bengali population of East Pakistan had voted to protest against years of being treated as second class citizens by the rulers based in West Pakistan.
The Pakistani rulers were not willing to accept the democratic verdict. Nor were they ready to accept the Awami League’s demand for a federation. Instead, in early , the Pakistani army arrested Sheikh Mujib and unleashed a reign of terror on the people of East Pakistan. In