HISTORY OF INDO-PAK RELATIONS THROUGH CHINESE PRISM

Kashmir is a major water source for India, China, and other neighboring countries. It harnesses in its fold about 15,000 glaciers including the 70 km long Siachen Glacier, on the India–Pakistan border which is the second largest glacier in the world. It is the issue of Kashmir, which Pakistan exploited against India with the help of China. India had a reasonably good case in the UN, but Pakistan managed to subvert the UNSC system and got support for its invalid claim. A Pakistani scholar observed that Pakistan's decision to recognize China was marked by enlightened self-interest because ‘in view of Pakistan sponsored militancy in India and passive hostility of the Afghan Government, Pakistan did not want another great neighbor to be its enemy.' Until the late 1950s, Pakistan's relations with China had not entered a ‘takeoff' stage, however, when Sino-Indian relations started declining in 1959 culminating in armed skirmishes in October 1962, Pakistan was driven closer to Beijing.