Introduction

Since the independence and partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 the relationship between these two states has been the most intractable and the most dangerous political stand off in South Asia. Since the end of the Cold War, it is perhaps the most dangerous and unpredictable region in international politics. In a meeting between President Clinton and the incoming President Bush, Clinton advised Bush that the, ‘continuing tension between India and Pakistan,’ should be high on the incoming administrations list of priorities, ‘because they both have nuclear weapons’ (Clinton 2004). There are several reasons for this continuing tension, first, the hostility between the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Muslim League prior to independence, hostility that carried over into the post-1947 period. Second, the bloodletting that occurred at partition, served even further to entrench hostility between them, leading both to question the justification and legitimacy of each other. Third, within weeks of independence Kashmir became and remains a continued source of political, ideological and military friction between them.