THE INDIA-PAKISTAN DYAD: A CHALLENGE TO THE REST OR TO THEMSELVES?

Abstract

No narrative on India and Pakistan relations, as postcolonial states, is complete without taking into account the ineptitude with which the colonial power (Britain) scuttled its responsibilities almost overnight and left in its wake two countries united only by their hatred for each other and divided by every other known variable. They continue to conduct their relations with each other through the narrow prisms of suspicion, hostility, hatred, and \"otherness.\" It could be argued that since their very coming into being was a violent event, their existence as independent entities would involve continued violence within \"manageable\" levels that does not succeed in breaking up the \"other.\" Apart from three and a half wars with each other, the India-Pakistan dyad is notorious for generating \"near-war\" scenarios repeatedly and for a vituperative relationship characterized by a perennial streak of crisis management. Adding a new dimension is the respective internal security problems faced by the dyad that threaten to undermine the legitimacy of both.