India and Pakistan: Continued Conflict or Cooperation?

by Stanley Wolpert

Beginning in 1947, when "India and Pakistan were born to conflict," renowned India scholar Stanley Wolpert provides an authoritative, accessible primer on what is potentially the world's most dangerous crisis. He concisely distills sixty-three years of complex history, tracing the roots of the relationship between these two antagonists, explaining the many attempts to resolve their disputes, and assessing the dominant political leaders. While the tragic Partition left many urgent problems, none has been more difficult than the problem over Kashmir, claimed by both India and Pakistan. This intensely divisive issue has triggered two conventional wars, killed some 100,000 Kashmiris, and almost ignited two nuclear wars since 1998, when both India and Pakistan openly emerged as nuclear-weapon states. In addition to providing a comprehensive perspective on the origin and nature of this urgent conflict, Wolpert examines all the proposed solutions and concludes with a road map for a brighter future for South Asia.

Genres: India, History, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Stanley A. Wolpert is an American academic, Indologist, and author considered one of the world's foremost authorities on the political and intellectual history of modern India and Pakistan and has written fiction and nonfiction books on the topics. He taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1959-2002.

Reviews

[Jibran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stanley Wolpert is back with his latest analysis of the conflicts that plague India and Pakistan. In this book he briefly traces the history of conflict between the two countries, with emphasis on the issue of Kashmir for which, after over six decades, there is no solution in sight. He goes through various national and international initiatives to solve the conflict of Kashmir and explains why they have always failed. The most realistic and viable solution to the problem, according to Wolpert, is for Pakistan and India to agree on thee current Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir as International border, for he believes that no attempt to swap or hand over territory to either country is likely to work. In other words, both countries should end their claims on territories currently under the control of the other.

Woplert’s main concern is the possibility of a nuclear conflict between the two neighbours. He argues that no two nuclear armed nations have ever been situated so geographically close to each other. Indian and Pakistani capitals and other metropolises are only less than 10 ballistic-missile minutes away for nuclear strikes. This raises the the fear of a completely devastating nuclear war if perchance one of the countries decides to go that way.

Tracing the history of the escalation of tension in 1999 after Kargil fiasco, of attacks in 2001 on the Indian Parliament by Pakistan-based jihadists, Mumbai train bombings in 2006, and yet again attacks on Mumbai by the same Pakistan-based terrorists in 2008, popularly dubbed as India’s 9/11, he argues that there is not only a high chance of two powerful armies going to conventional war with each other but also of a terrifyingly devastating nuclear war, which may wipe hundreds of millions of people off the map in no time.

Woplert believes that the world is quite indifferent to the dangers posed by the continued conflict between the two nuclear armed neighbours as well as to the plight of hundreds of thousands innocent Kashmiris who bear the brunt of torture and oppression on daily basis. It is high time the world focused its attention on continuing Indo-Pakistan conflict and its root cause , ie., the issue of Kashmir.

One weakness of the book is that it is too short to cover comprehensively the topic at hand. I wish it was twice the size it actually is. More emphasis is put in recounting the Pakistani side of political intrigue whereas Indian political scene and its policies in Kashmir get little attention. At times the narrative sounds more like a charge-sheet of the follies of Pakistani establishment in mishandling the conflict than highlighting its dynamics and contours in a less partial manner.

This is a small book. Good for those who want a concise overview of the 64 year long conflict between India and Pakistan as well as three (four, including Kargil) wars fought between the two countries.

[Mehwish · Rating 3 out of 5]

2014: Firing continues at LOC. India blames Pakistan and Pakistan blames India. Kashmiris continue to suffer.

This book attempts to summarise the history of Indo-Pak conflict over Kashmir.

[Rama · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute primer.

Although there's a predictable longing for Jinnah -- as especially expected from Wolpert -- and "liberal" guys in these aspirational (to western "democracy") lands, there's an overall pro-India tilt that can be detected. Not only that, there are the occasional flecks of patronization of the Indo-Pak world, as if the problems created are solely due to the ample faults of the neighbours. And a sense of superiority creeps in when the author makes comments pertinent to what the United States thinks and how Americans depend on Indians to make sure their basic needs are taken care of through the outsourcing industry.

[Sadia27 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contrary to what Wolpert mentions on page 82, Akbar Bugti was not shot dead in his home. The cave where he had set up camp was shelled and that is what led to his death. It is, however, disputed whether the death was caused by a direct hit of the shelling or whether the cave collapsed while he was inside.

[Andy Wiesendanger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Supposed to be a primer, so I get it that it's not very detailed, but I felt like I was just reading names and dates, couldn't really make sense of how things were flowing. And not enough description, many assumptions that the reader should know. For example, a map of Pakistan as it was first created would've been helpful, and for a primer, not describing any names (of places, people) is not helpful.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good start for an overview of what's happened between India and Pakistan but reading his personal comments on American politics has me questioning if what he's written is unbiased.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting. I read it for school.

[The Book : An Online Review at The New Republic]

No Asian conflict,” Stanley Wolpert’s new book begins, “has proved more deadly, costly, or intractable than that which continues to divide India and Pakistan over Kashmir.” Wolpert has been writing about the Indian subcontinent for half a century, which might explain his limited vision. One can easily think of several Asian conflicts, from Cambodia to Korea, with higher death counts and greater costs. But Wolpert, as a historian and an observer, has seen the two countries, which share a long border, engage in a number of wars since the British partition of 1947. Read more...

[Fatima Arif · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a spot on analysis of the overall situation in a very balanced manner. However, I personally found the solutions provided for the Kashmir issue falling short of what I was expecting, given Stanley Wolpert's knowledge on the subject. A more in-depth discussion on that front would have been great.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive overview that provides some good background information, but felt a little superficial. I would have liked the author to go a little more in depth on a few topics. It's a good primer, though!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was actually really well written, and though short, contained a fountain of useful information to better understand the struggle between india and pakistan over the kashmir region.