ABSTRACT
India is the world's largest democracy but it is riven with cleavages which are becoming increasingly politicised. The most persistent cleavage remains that between the Hindu and Muslim populations which provided the basis for partition and the establishment of Pakistan in 1948. The long-standing dispute over Jammu and Kashmir has poisoned relations between India and Pakistan since partition. In 1971, Indian intervention resulted in the independence of Bangladesh, much against the wishes of Pakistan. The election of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which eventually led to power in coalition, have raised a number of issues. While India also has disputes internally in Assam and externally with both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, it is the relationship with Pakistan that dominates. Nuclear testing by India and Pakistan has implications that are both regional and global. India has signed neither the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nor the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and has indeed been an opponent of nuclear disarmament.
