Pak and foreign relations Flashcards
Early decisions (e or w?)
world after 1947
when Pak achieved independence, international politics dominated by what was later to be called ‘the cold war’
this was struggle bw democratic, capitalist bloc (US) and communist bloc (Soviet Union)
leaders of Pak realized they could not remain neutral in this dispute
Pak = new country and it needed economic and political support to help it become a viable independent country
Pak chose to ally w US cus:
- US most powerful country in world, w most advanced economy
- Pak believed in priv economy (like US) and and had traditional ties w west
- Islamic ideology = anti-communist and SU was a country which considered was considered anti-religion
one of the great communist philosopherss Karl Max had described religion as ‘the opium of masses’
Refugees (I)
large scale population transfers but there were still substantial religious minorities in each country
feelings of hostility bw two communities sm that both countries feared there would be bloody scenes like those in 1947
April 1950: PM Liaqut Ali + Nehru = minorities pact
each country agreed that it would provide protection and and religious freedom for minorities
the hoped that as a result of this there would be a stop to the large wave of refugees
agreement slowed the flow down but did not entirely stop ppl from leaving
did not trust govt policies
realized that minorities would not have same opportunities s majority
resources
unsatisfactory manner in which resources were divided = marked effect on rs bw India and Pak
Indian reluctance to release assets = paki govt sus on India motives
1/4/48: India cut off water supply from all headworks that it controlled
farmers irrigated using the canals running off main rivers
closed= water in rivers ran v low= irrigation difficult
act taken to create difficulties for the new country
IWS 1959
Kashmir
fighting bw India and Pak = Kashmir divided
Pak angry cuz India retained largest area of Kashmir, including capital srinagar
determined to gain control of whole kashmir
most of 4M inhabitants = Muslims and Pak believed that the territory belonged to it
1949: ceasefire line controlled by troops from UN
negotiations thu 1950s but little progress made
1954 and 55: India tried to integrate Indian-occupied Kashmir into India = provoked protests from pakistanis and then from UN after pak appealed to UNSC
1957: UNSC so concerned that India might occupy Kashmir again, declaration reconfirming that the whole of kashmir was a disputed teritorry and its future could only be settled by vote by ppl of Kashmir
such a plebiscite to be supervised by UN
issue ramins unresolved and lack of trust bw countries affected rs in other areas
India concerned abt US military aid to Pak
sense of insecurity in India = friendship pact w China 1954
1962: India and China = war over positioning of border bw the two countries china advanced to where it claimed the border should be before declaring ceasefire
Indian reaction to chinese war: begin re-armament program, accepting aid from west
by 1965, India thought it strong enough to attack Pak
1965 war
6 sept: Indians attacked Pak by crossing border and threatening Lahore
Pak defended
UN intervened and persuaded both sides to stop fighting
Jan 1966, SU arranged ceasefire conference in Tashkent
agreed that the question of Kashmir and all other disputes would be settled by future negotiation
no settlement in Kashmir reached yet
1971 war
India support for Mukti Bahini in EP = Pak India war again 1971
heavy fighting along borders of Kashmir and Punjab
Indian forces entered EP reaching Dhaka
war lasted 13 days and ended on 16/12/71
final settlement (Simla accord) signed 7/72
major step in improving rs
relations after 1971
strained but improved once zia came into power 1977
he began receiving significant aid from USA to oppose SU policy in Afghanistan
Zia’s priority = supporting Afghanis (even th kashmir issue still imp)
early 1980s: Indians faced uprisings by sikh community in Punjab who were demanding seperate homeland
India accused Pak of providing arms and training for sikh insurgent, but was never able to substantiate these accusations
oct 1984: Mrs Gandhi assassinated by sikhs
her son, Rajiv, took over as PM and openly accused Pak of having a role in the sikh separatist movement and thus, indirectly, assassination of his mom
ill feeling rose despite zia declaring a day of national mourning for mrs gandhi in pak
1987: relations deteriorated to the point where the two countries were close to war
Late jan: Indian army began ‘exercises’ in rajasthan desert
these were designed to intimidate Pakis
zia flew to India, supposedly to watch a cricket match bw India and Pak in Jaipur
while there, he met indian leaders including Rajiv Gandhi and managed to cool situation down
exercise called off
war had been avoided but there were still many problems
situation in kashmir far from solved
both countries developed nucleur weapons and conventional weapons in case of future warfare
Pakistan- a nuclear power
focusing on nuclear powers in jan 1972, a month after loss of EP
in that year, opened KANUPP
Pak concerned abt India’s development of nuclear weapons and India’s superiority in conventional forces
PM ZA Bhutto felt that nuclear programme was needed to ensure Paki survival
one of the reasons Pak did not sign 1970 Nuclear non-proliferation treaty
1974: India carried out nuclear tests which caused concerns in Pak = it stepped up its own development program by founding the engineering research laboratories in Kahuta near Isl
it is believed that scientists in Pak had produced their own nuclear bomb by beginning of 1985 , but no official announcement made till 1988
perhaps this was cuz USA said it wouldnt provide aid if pak was developing nuclear weapons
As Pak India rs further deteriorated, both countries stepped up their nuclear development programs
May 1988: India shocked world by testing 5 nuclear devices
few weeks later, Pak detonated its own nuclear devices in Ras Koh hills
in announcing the tests, PM NS declared ‘today we have settled the score.’
considerable concern in world that two great rivals now both had nuclear capabilties
UN secretary general asked both India and Pak to sign the comprehensive test treaty ban
India refused and so did Pak
late 1998: both countries announced they were stopping nuclear testing
siachen glacier
area of kashmir where there is constant conflict bw Ind and Pak where the border has never been properly drawn
1981: Pak concerned that India might try to take possession of the area and sent troops to prevent this
surprised to discover there ere already 300 Indian troops encamped in the mountains
Pak troops also dug in
though the region is desolate and infertile, such is its symbolic importance that both ind and pak have kept troops in the area and are believed to have spent more than 500 million USD each year in preventing occupation by enemy forces
regular fighting = 5k soldier’s lives
Kargil conflict
1999: Kashmiri freedom fighters crossed into Indian controlled area of Kashmir
India sent 2 fighter planes to attack them but they were shot down after they crossed into Pak air space
major concern in international community that two countries with nuclear capabilities might go to war
US president Bill Clinton finally intervened and both sides agreed to stop fighting
kashmir problem still unsolved
Pak and USA
after independence Pak decided to ally w USA
at this time however americans were working towards an anti communist alliance w India and it was some time before they embraced alliance w Pak w any enthusiasm
during Independence struggle , americans often talked abt need for unity bw M and H
M disturbed by this as they were trying to establish separate homeland
USA took several years before it sent ambassadors to Pak
Liaqut Ali frustrated by coolness of americans towards alliance w Pak and in 1949 accepted an offer to visit SU
if his intention was to force americans into a closer alliance, he succeeded cuz the invitation to visit USA arrived almost immediately
Liaqut Ali made the visit in 1950 and arranged for a Pak embassy to be established in USA
americans continued to persuade India to join anti communist pact w them, India reluctant but Pak was prepared to join in return for military and economic aid
1954: americans had decided that Pak + Iran and Turkey = ideal countries to counter the growth of Soviet influence
agreement signed and americans began to flow into Pak
1954-55, Pak signed 3 agreements that established it as pro-west and anti-communist
1. May 1954 Pak and USA signed Mutual Defence Assistance Agreement
2. sept 1954: SEATO set up. members: USA, UK, France, Philippines, Thailand, NZ, Australia
Pak joined but decision faced opposition by pak govt = treaty not ratified till 1955
treaty stated that if any member was attacked, it could appeal to other members for support, but the problem was that it only applied to help against communist aggression
hence pak received no support in its wars against India and no help to prevent separation of EP
Pak hoped to persuade SEATO to set up a permanent military force to protect all member countries against any attack.
by 1972 it decided that membership of SEATO was of limited value and Bhutto withdrew Pak from organization
3. 1955: Baghdad pact w Iran and Turkey, establishing anti-communist alliance against SU
later in year: Britain, Pak and Iran joined pact
all members Muslim except UK
pact renamed CENTO when Iran left in 1959 because of a revolution
despite regular meetings, grp never developed a permanent structure or a system for raising troops for mutual defence
by 1979, organisation had quietly dissolved
USA supported CENTO but never joined
relations after 1959
1962: China India war
China communist = USA sent military aid to India
this move offended Pak govt, which argued that it should have at least been consulted before India was given aid
Pak leaders also argued that america should have forced Indians to accept arbitration on Kashmir issue as price for receiving aid
though americans promises to consult Pak in future, in practice they were pleased to get the large non communist state into agreement
after 1962: both China and SU seemed keener to have Pak as an ally than the US
1962, Ayub visited china and 1965 the SU . these visits displeased USA
during 1965 war bw Ind and Pak, USA joined UK in an arms embargo on both countries
as Pak army was almost entirely supplied and trained by USA, the embargo was far more damaging to it than to India
1971: USA did not help Pak during civil war in EP and took few measures to help in war against India (tho it did send fleet to warn India to not attack Pak)
Ayub had offended americans by visiting China and SU, but he was considered architect of good rs bw the USA and Pak
allowed americans to build air bases in Pak and remained loyal to USA even during highly embarassing U2 incident when an american spy plane had taken off from Peshawar and been shot down over Soviet territory
Ayub replaced by Bhutto = USA concerned that he was not as pro-american
Bhutto even accused americans of organizing the opposition against him in 1977
rs reached rock bottom when zia came in 1977
americans did not approve of military regimes and did not want to form alliance w zia
nov 1979: US embassy Isl burnt down
USA accused zia of complicity in the attack and recalled many of its senior officials
all aid programs cancelled
Afghan miracle
Dec 1979:
SU invaded Afghanistan
Pak suddenly on the frontline in the war against communism
attitude of USA towards zia’s govt changed overnight
reservations abt his domestic policies were quickly put aside
what was more imp to USA was to have Zia’s support to oppose SU in Afghanistan
in return for supporting Afghan rebels against SU, USA offered zia substantial economic and military aid
zia made the most out of America’s need
1980: turned down their first offer of aid as insufficient
1981: Americans had agreed to a $1.6B aid package over 5 yrs and a further 1.5 billion pound loan at low rates of interest to enable Pak to buy modern US weapons
aid enabled Pak to enjoy rapid economic development and to become a leading military nation in the region
India objected strongly to the american aid program, but Pak was too valuable an ally to US to offend
1986: further aid program providing $4.2 billion worth military and economic aid was signed
after Israel and Egypt, Pak was third largest recipient of American aid
END OF MIRACLE::
1988: Afghanistan and SU signed agreement to end their war
almost overnight, Pak lost its strategic imp to the USA and aid was reduced dramatically
impact of loss of american aid was a srs problem to the new govt of BB
in her first address as PM she had promised better rs w USA, Russia, China
this was a change in her thinking as she criticised zia’s close rs w USA
however she realized vital imp of american aid to Pak and June 1989 visited USA
Nuclear issue
americans particularly concerned abt Pak’s nuclear program and in 1980 tried to get it to sign Nuclear non-proliferation treaty
BB made speech in US congress saying that her country didnt have nuclear weapons but had a right to continue its nuclear program to ensure that it can defend itself
she said Pak was willing to declare that the subcontinent is nuclear free if India did the same
BB had to work to maintain her rs w USA as american officials refused to believe that Pak had no nuclear weapons
1985: Pressier Amendment: USA could only give aid to a country after the american president declared that country had no nuclear weapons and was not developing them
during afgan crisis, the rule was conviniently ignored
but when war ended, President George H.W Bush refused to declare Pak was nuclear free and blocked aid to country
he also stopped sale of 28 F-16 jets which pak had ordered and paid for
the withdrawal of US aid = series blow to VV govt as a major refurbishment of military forces was underway
Pak 3rd largest recipient of US military aid the refurbishment was due to be financed from a $4M economic development program due to run till 1993
deterioration in rs
Pak complained bitterly that the amendment applied to Pak only and not India which wasnt fair
US complained that Pak was becoming major centre for distribution of illegal drugs and home produced weapons
these weapons were falling into hands of terrorists who were using them against USA
1992: USA came close to declaring Pak as a state sponsor of terrorism and placed economic sanctions on the country
the Thaw
President clinton (1993) wanted to restore rs
agreed that pressler amendment led to unfair treatment and suggested that if Pak stopped producing weapon-grade uranium he would agree to the sale of F-16s
Jan 1995: Defence secretary William Perry visited Pak and declared that the amendment had been a mistake
BB visited USA in 1996 and following that visit, Brown amendment authorised US govt to reimburse Pak for F-16 payments and provide $388M in military equipment
BB delighted and said ‘passing of brown amendment has vindicated Pak’s principled case and goes a long way towards restoring the warmth, which in the past characterized the rs bw US and Pak’
thaw in rs was further highlighted when first lady Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, visited Pak in 1996
