ABSTRACT
The India-Pakistan conflict has endured for six decades, a series of wars and crises marking its course. In this chapter, the chief drivers of the conflict in the realm of ideas and material power are sketched out to show the intensity of the conflict and its constant gravitation towards war. The first part highlights the history of their violent separation at birth and its recurring theme both as cumulative collective memory and as contesting identities. The latter half shows how the contest was played out in the theatre of power in terms of antithetical roles and interests. The discussion as a whole provides the backdrop for the analysis of their behaviour as nuclear-armed states in the following chapter.
