Jai Narain Sharma Quotes
One has to accept that India is central to this region and that none of the countries in the immediate neighbourhood … particularly relishes this fact. But India cannot change geographically and there is no way it can remove its neighbours’ apprehensions arising out of size and location.
Jai Narain Sharma, Indian Political Scientist, “The genesis and growth of Indo-Pak tension,” The Indian Tribune, January 13, 2002
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There were several difficulties in this definition even for those British and Indian Congress leaders who were willing to accede to an independent Muslim state. Two of the most important where the definition of areas. They could be so defined as to include majority Hindu or Sikh areas surrounded by larger majority Muslim areas—the classic problem of boundary districting and redistricting. This was an insurmountable problem in the Punjab and elsewhere. The 2nd was the undemocratic nature of the demand. The Muslim League, unlike the Congress Party, had never had a very large participation and its leaders were never elected over a series of free and fair elections. Many Muslims were opposed to the Muslim League and there were areas of India, like Kashmir, where a large proportion of the 70% Muslim population were opposed to partition and if there were to be one would prefer to remain with India. With virtually 100% of the Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians of Kashmir refusing to be part of a Muslim state, the majority in Kashmir would have then voted to remain a part of India but the Muslim League did not take account of democratic processes at the time. They changed their view later after they had infiltrated tens of thousands of semi nomadic Muslim Tribesmen across the border to gain the majority. Then the Indians would not accede to a plebiscite until the newcomers were removed and India has been in a constant war with Pakistan who has been trying to gain control of Indian Kashmir by war and terrorism.
Alexander’s men won the battle, and the Greeks then ruled.
This was an incredible prediction with no other world leader thinking it possible for decades until that is exactly what happened.
India & Pakistan have been in dispute over Kashmir and other issues ever since Pakistan’s creation. Pakistan has started sever wars, and though she has lost them, India has never invaded Pakistan. Each side has been trying to get the United States to support its position and pressure the other side. When they started an arms race and both sides started to develop nuclear weapons, the reality was that the United States pressured both sides on the nuclear proliferation issue. No nation wants to admit that it has been pressured to arrive at any position. So the diplomatic thing for those nations who apply diplomatic pressure on other nations is to deny that they are trying to pressure the party which they are trying to pressure. This makes it easier for the pressure to work.
This was true at the time for most nations and their activities—the world was, and was perceived of, as a zero sum game. But with the modern world, much of international activity is not zero sum. In foreign trade both parties to a transaction might win. In scientific research, a win for one nation increases the benefit from all nations who use that research or build upon it.
Most experts believe that this objective was sustained all through the Afghanistan War in the early 21st century.
