India’s Bilateral Relations with Pakistan

Relations between India and Pakistan has been mired with internecine attacks and counter-attacks. The two countries waged wars in 1948, 1965, 1971, 1999. Sporadic efforts have been made towards normalization of relations between two neighbouring nations, but most of these notions are mudded due to Pakistan’s belligerence.

Recent Developments

Despite the continuing frost in relations and exchange of fire across the border, India and Pakistan continued their New Year tradition of exchanging lists of prisoners and nuclear installations.

Humanitarian Initiatives

  • Of late, India and Pakistan handed over a list of 834 citizens languishing in each other’s jails. This list is a bi-annual exercise that is part of the 2008 agreement signed by the two countries.
  • In this context, Pakistan was asked to expedite the release and repatriation of 17 Indian civilian prisoners and 369 Indian fishermen to India whose nationality has been confirmed.
  • Immediate consular access has also been sought for the remaining prisoners and fishermen to facilitate their early release and repatriation.
  • India has also asked Pakistan to expedite response in the case of 80 Pakistan prisoners who have completed their sentences and await repatriation for want of nationality confirmation by Pakistan.
  • To take forward the understanding reached to address the humanitarian issues, especially with respect to elderly, women and mentally unsound prisoners, India has already shared the details of the reconstituted Joint Judicial Committee and that of the Indian medical experts’ team to visit Pakistan to meet the mentally unsound prisoners and asked to expedite their visit.

Kulbhushan Jadhav Case

  • Kulbhushan Jadhav, arguably the most famous prisoner. This is because Pakistan believes that Jadhav is neither within the category of “civilian prisoners” nor “fishermen” – the two types of jailed citizens for which the neighbours exchange lists.
  • The 2008 agreement instructs the two countries to exchange “list of the nationals of the other country under its arrest, detention or imprisonment” on January 1 and July 1 each year. Pakistan announced Jadhav’s capture in March 2018, claiming that he was a serving Indian defence officer who was allegedly behind several incidents of terror.
  • India strenuously dismissed the allegations, asserting that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran.
  • India and Pakistan will be facing each other in the International Court of Justice in February, 2019 for oral hearings in New Delhi’s suit against Islamabad for not allowing consular access to Jadhav, in violation of international treaties.

Hamid Nehal Ansari

An Indian national from Mumbai who spent six years in a Pakistani jail returned to India on 18th December, 2018. Hamid Nihal Ansari, 33, was arrested for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he met online. In 2015, a military court sentenced him to three years in prison for possessing a fake Pakistani ID card.

Non-Nuclear Aggression Agreement

  • India-Pakistan exchanged a list of nuclear installations and facilities for the 28th consecutive year since the 1988 ‘Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations between India and Pakistan’ came into force.

Last Successful Meeting

  • PM Modi and former PM Nawaz Sharif met very briefly in Paris on the sidelines of Climate Change Summit on 30th November 2015, the delegations from India and Pakistan led by their respective NSAs met in Bangkok quietly on 7th December, 2015 far away from public glare and media scrutiny.
  • According to the brief statement issued on this occasion, the two sides discussed peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and other issues including tranquillity along the LoC.

Meetings Called Off

  • India refused to participate in the 19th SAARC Summit because of the lack of an atmosphere free from terror which continues till now.
  • Earlier in September, 2018, India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) SushmaSwaraj had called off scheduled talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the UNGA saying “terror and talks can’t go together”.

Kartarpur Corridor

  • There has been a long-standing demand to open a corridor from India to Pakistan to allow pilgrims to enter Pakistan and visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Narowal district.
  • The gurdwara is built at the resting place of Guru Nanak. He spent his last two decades here. Indians are not allowed the visit this shrine.
  • The corridor would allow devotees to walk to the shrine and return in one day without a passport or visa.
  • On the issue of the Kartarpur corridor, the government officials specified that this is not a political but a cultural initiative. Both India and Pakistan have taken initiatives in the context of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

  • CPEC is a massive $46 billion bilateral developmental project between Pakistan and China, is supposed to be a game changer in the geopolitics of South Asia.
  • This economic corridor aims to connect Kashgar in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang with Pakistan’s Gwadar port in Balochistan through a vast and complex network of roads measuring 3,000 km as well as other infrastructure projects.
  • On paper CPEC is intended to be completed by 2030.

India’s Concerns Regarding CPEC

  • As the corridor passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, which India claims to be its own integral and indispensable territory, illegally held by Pakistan, India has openly opposed CPEC.
  • Pakistan has continuously accused India of conspiring to disrupt the project by fueling the Baloch insurgency, a claim vehemently contested by Indian state.
  • Unhealthy Indo-Pak relations cast shadows over the prospects of a peaceful and stable South Asia.

Indus Water Treaty

  • Indian and Pakistani officials wrapped up a two-day meeting of the Indus Water Commission which was held in August, 2018 in Lahore. The Indus Treaty is regarded as one of the most successful international pacts, having survived three major wars and numerous twists and turns in a volatile relationship.

What is Indus Water Treaty?

  • The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a water sharing arrangement, signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960, by the then Prime Minster Jawaharlal Nehru and the then Pakistan’s President General Ayub Khan.
  • The World Bank (the erstwhile international bank for reconstruction and development) brokered the treaty and is also a party to it.
  • According to the treaty, Beas, Ravi and Sutlej are to be governed by India, while, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum are to be taken care by Pakistan.
  • However, since Indus flows from India, the country is allowed to use 20% of its water for irrigation, power generation and transport purposes.
  • A Permanent Indus Commission was set up as a bilateral commission to implement and manage the Treaty. The Commission solves disputes arising over water sharing.

India’s Bilateral Relations with Pakistan

Our Honble PM has a vision of harnessing and augmenting relations with bordering nations with ‘neighbour first policy’ which he had mentioned several times in various meetings/ conferences. Pakistan’s new PM Imran Khan also announced Pakistan’s willingness to improve ties with India and declared that if India takes one step towards Pakistan, the latter would take two. But, in the light of incidences where India-Pakistan border skirmishes are on the rise with ceasefire violations and cross border firings. Thus, inconsistency/ hatred prevails with peace remaining an elusive goal.

India’s Stand on Terrorism

  • India is still firm in its stated positions that talks and terror cannot go together; whose effects can be seen on the cancellations of several meetings during 2017-18.
  • On February, 2018 Pakistan was grey-listed and on September, 2018 Asia Pacific Policy Group on Money Laundering (APPG) reviewed and termed “unsatisfactory” performance from the side of Pakistan.
  • India also approached several other international bodies to raise concern on the ‘Terror-Bogeys’ culminated by Pakistan.

India-Pakistan Relations: Major Milestones

Sl.no.

Wars/ Agreement

Timeline

Reason

1.

Kashmir Conflict

1947

The Pakistani Army infiltrated Kashmir through tribal forces in an attempt to occupy Kashmir. This was followed by the Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh signing the agreement of accession to the dominion of India resulting in a full-fledged war.

2.

1965 War

1965

The war of 1965 was a result of Operation Gibralter carried out by Pakistani armed forces to occupy Kashmir.

3.

1971 War

1971

It occurred as a result of the ongoing war between East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The war resulted in the independence of East Pakistan and the creation of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

4.

Shimla Agreement

1972

Both sides agreed to settle any disputes “by peaceful means”. It also re-designated the ceasefire line of December 17, 1971, as being the new “Line-of-Control (LoC)”.

5.

Siachen Conflict

1984

The struggle ensued after India launched Operation Meghdoot, gaining control over the Siachen glacier. It was followed by Pakistani army launching strikes on several occasions in 1985, 1987 and 1995 to expel Indian forces.

6.

Kargil War

1999

The Kargil war of 1999 took place immediately following the Pakistani army’s infiltration into the Kargil district in Kashmir.

7.

Lahore Declaration

1999

Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to the Shimla Accord, and agreed to undertake a number of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ (CBMs).

Trade Relations

  • Bilateral trade between the India-Pakistan stood at US$2.28 billion during the FY2016-17.
  • India mainly exports cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel to Pakistan while it imports fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices.
  • Pakistan allows only 137 products to be exported from India through the Wagah border land route.
  • India had accorded Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan in 1996. A Pakistan cabinet decision of November 02, 2011 to reciprocate remains unimplemented.

Related Content