ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the rivalry approach to unravel the factors and events that led to Pakistan’s decision to acquire the nuclear bomb, and outlines the impact of nuclear weapons on the India–Pakistan rivalry. It deals with a detailed history of the India-Pakistan rivalry, highlighting the events and factors that have shaped this rivalry. The chapter examines the role of nuclear weapons on that rivalry and the Kashmir conflict. It argues that nuclear weapons have played a role in the India–Pakistan rivalry. Nuclear weapons have made an all-out war difficult if not impossible. Before large-scale war broke out in 1965, President Ayub visited China for an eight-day state visit, and during it the emphasis was on the peaceful aspirations of China in its friendship with Pakistan. After the defeat in the 1971 war, President Bhutto and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi met in Simla for peace talks in July 1972.
