Indian-Pakistani Border: Historical Development and Contemporary Principles of Reconciling Contradictions

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the issue of the historical foundations of the existing border conflicts between India and Pakistan and the latest efforts of these two states and the international community in relation of resolving them. The roots of the existing Indian-Pakistani border conflicts go back to the time when India was a part of British colonial empire. To a decisive extent, such conflicts were a consequence of the British authority’s policy, which, in an effort to weaken the liberation movement in India, incited enmity between the largest ethno-religious groups of the population – Hindus and Muslims. This policy eventually led to the formation of two separate neighboring states – India and Pakistan, and these countries inherited numerous border conflicts. The largest among them is Kashmir, due to the gap of this territory between India and Pakistan. For several decades, the state of Jammu and Kashmir, according to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, had a special status and broad autonomy.However, the Indian government, headed by N. Modi, eliminated this special status by removing this article from the country’s constitution in August 2019.

Over the past year, under the influence of serious geopolitical changes in the Indo-Pacific region and South Asia, the government of N. Modi initiated a return to the consideration of the status of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, and also seeks to develop an updated format for his stay in India. On June 25, 2021 the prime minister of India held an important meeting with a group of prominent politicians from Kashmir, which was the first public event by the Indian government after the liquidation of the Kashmir autonomy. During the meeting, a number of issues were discussed about the preparation for the future elections in the region. N. Modi described the meeting as “an important step towards increasing efforts in the development and progress of the territory of Jammu and Kashmir”.