Sec in Southwestt Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sec in Southwestt Asia - Essay Example This requires an urgent ceasefire between the two countries to restore good relations. As earlier stated, the conflict between India and Pakistan has impacted on the entire South Asian region. The United States is one of the many countries that have been concerned with the war making it a priority agenda (Lamb 1966, p.12). For instance, during the handing over of the presidency from Clinton to George Walker Bush, the former advised Bush that the persistent antagonism between India and Pakistan needed to prioritized because of the dangers posed by the nuclear capabilities of the two countries (Misra 2010, p.32). The objective of this paper is to explore the reasons for the continued hostility between India and Pakistan relations. It will also discuss steps that can be taken to develop and sustain cordial relations between the two countries. Indo-Pak conflict has been a long-standing political conflict that began in 1947 immediately after independence (Brines 1968, p.35). The war has s ince persisted with the two countries being suspicious of each other. Report indicates that the two countries have fought three deadly wars since independent because of the continued friction between the two countries (Raja 2013). ... The war ended in 1949 following a ceasefire leaving the state of Kashmir split into two with India being handed two-thirds of the eastern side of Kashmir (Sareen 2012). Pakistan, on the other hand, gained control of the remaining third of the western Kashmir. However, due to continued hostility over Kashmir, the two countries again engaged each other in war in 1965, with the war ending in a military stalemate with the division of Kashmir remaining unchanged. Ever since, there has been a disagreement over which county owns Kashmir, with both countries claiming rightful ownership. According to Pakistan, Kashmir is the â€Å"K† in Pakistan- a Muslim dominated territory that according to the two-nation theory should rightfully belong to Islam (Sareen 2012). In this regard, Pakistan claims that, as a Muslim majority in Kashmir, the territory should have rightfully formed part of Pakistan at the time of partition in 1947. Therefore, merging Kashmir with Pakistan, according to Pakist anis is termed as â€Å"unfinished business of Partition,† which they intend to ensure, becomes fulfilled (Karim 1996, p.22). Indians, on the other hand, opposes this claim arguing that their possession of Kashmir province is a clear demonstration that Muslim dominated state can exist in India. This according to Indians is a good example of how India embraces people from different faiths. As a result, Indians believe that relinquishing Kashmir territory to Pakistan will threaten Indian unity. Some Indians also believe that additional partitioning of Kashmir according to religion would not do any good, but reopen the status of Muslim as Indian citizens and remind people of the wounds caused by the partition. This struggle has been persistent with both countries claiming