India and Pakistan conflict. India vs Pakistan - the roots of the conflict and the prospect of fire

The book is dedicated to the main striking power of the ground forces - tank troops. The author reconstructed the main tank battles of World War II, spoke in detail about the background of the creation and post-war development of armored vehicles, gave a description of various types and types of tanks, paying great attention to armor protection and the parameters of tank guns, their maneuverability in specific landscapes. The publication is supplied with maps, diagrams and photographs.

Another blitzkrieg was the twenty-two-day conflict between India and Pakistan in 1965. In it, the combatants were militarily more or less equal.

When the British in 1947 divided their Indian (colonial. - Ed.) empire, Punjab (with a predominantly Sikh population. - Ed.) was divided between India and Pakistan, and the question of Kashmir was left open to be decided in a plebiscite. (Granting the long overdue independence of India, the British decided to create two states on its territory - one with a predominantly Hindu population (India), the other with a predominantly Muslim population (Pakistan). This resulted in mass migrations, accompanied by pogroms and murders. Sometimes local rulers, professing a religion different from the religion of most of their subjects, they annexed their lands to one of the states, which became another source of future troubles. Ed.) Old hatred, mostly of a religious nature, spilled over into the war over Kashmir in 1947-1948, and both countries later found themselves on the brink of war twice. The 1965 conflict actually began in January in the Great Rann of Kutch, a desolate, salt marshes and apparently useless stretch of territory hundreds of kilometers southwest of Kashmir. This was followed by a better organized operation by Pakistan in Kashmir in April. The Indians counterattacked in May to establish defensive positions behind the 1947 ceasefire line to the north and northeast. The disputed territory is for the most part quite mountainous (including the highest mountains of the Karakorum, etc. - Ed.).

Hostilities began in earnest in August. Organized operations by Pakistani guerrillas, which were supplied by air through a 700 km demarcation line, began in the Kashmir mountains at four widely separated locations, with one group almost reaching the city of Srinagar. Pakistan's main goal was apparently to provoke an anti-Indian uprising, but this did not succeed. Another idea was to block the Indian military forces here, splitting them into five separate groups.

India had a larger army. Both sides were armed with various armored vehicles. Pakistan had about 1,100 tanks: light tanks M-24 and M-41, medium tanks M4A3, M4A1E8, M-47 and M-48 and self-propelled artillery M7V1 and M3V2. One armored division was available and another was in the process of formation. The Indian army had about 1450 tanks, light tanks AMX-13, M3A1 and PT76 (a Soviet-made amphibious tank); medium tanks M-4, M4A4, M-48, "Centurion" 5-7, T-54 and T-55 (the last two are also Soviet-made) and 106-mm recoilless rifles mounted on jeeps, as well as Unimog anti-tank vehicles . Some of the Indian Shermans (M-4, M4A4) were armed with Canadian-made 76mm cannons. In armored divisions, both sides had about 150 tanks, but infantry formations and units also had tanks and self-propelled artillery. Neither side had enough infantry in armored personnel carriers or even motorized infantry.

On August 14, an infantry battalion of Pakistani regular troops crossed the line to attack Bhimbar (75 km northwest of the city of Jammu). The next night, the Pakistanis bombarded the Indian position with artillery and tried to advance. The Indians, in turn, captured three positions in the mountains northeast of Kargil (near the demarcation line) to secure the most important mountain road between Srinagar and Leh (in Eastern Kashmir). On August 20, Pakistani artillery fired on concentrations of Indian troops near the settlements of Tithwal, Uri and Poonch. The Indians responded with two limited attacks deep into Northern Kashmir. On August 24, the Indians attacked at Tithwal, capturing the peak of Dir Shuba. The Pakistanis blew up the Michpur Bridge. The Indians eventually entrenched themselves in positions dominating the key Srinagar-Leh road, blocking the main route of a possible invasion to Kargil (from the north along the Indus River Gorge).

Other Indian units crossed the demarcation line in the Uri area on August 25, taking several Pakistani positions in the mountains and finally capturing the Haji Pir Pass (leading to Poonch) from the rear. These troops, following from Uri, joined on September 10 with an Indian column advancing from Poonch. By the end of August, the main forces of the Pakistani partisans (saboteurs. - Ed.) were limited to penetrating into the interior of India by only 16 km. The plan of the Pakistani guerrillas would have been good if the expected uprising in India had taken place and if the plan had been better carried out.

Two Pakistani armored brigades, each of forty-five M-47 tanks, with two infantry support brigades from Bhimbar, moved from Bhimbar to Akhnur on the Chenab River on September 1 to cut an important road and then take Jammu and the city. This created the danger of isolating all Indian troops from 100 thousand soldiers in mountainous Kashmir, since both vital roads were blocked (Jammu - the intersection of the roads to Srinagar (and further to Leh and Tashigang) and to Uri. - Ed.). The operation began at 4.00 am with a powerful artillery preparation. To mislead the enemy, the area north of Naushakhra was also bombarded with artillery. This was followed by three trial infantry attacks against one Indian infantry brigade and several tanks in defensive positions near Chhamba. There were two Indian infantry divisions in the area, and they pulled up to the scene of the fighting after the start of the Pakistani attacks. The Pakistanis had terrain suitable for tanks, while the Indians had to bring up reinforcements along a single road in difficult conditions. By the afternoon of September 2, the Indians knocked out sixteen Pakistani tanks, but Chhamb was taken by the Pakistanis with a wide coverage from the east.

A Pakistani armored column heading towards Akhnur was attempting to reach the 1.5 km wide strategic bridge across the Chenab River, vital to supplying the Indian forces in front of the river. The Indians attempted to delay the Pakistani advance with air attacks and claimed to have destroyed thirteen tanks. Pakistani aircraft were also called here, but further air activity on both sides was low.

INDO-PAKISTAN WAR

September 1965

The attacking Pakistanis reached Nariana on 5 September and were 8 km from Akhnur. However, they failed to capture the city due to their slow tactics and the flexibility of the active defense provided by the Indians. A significant part of the Pakistani troops were withdrawn from here when the Indians launched an attack much further south, in the Punjab, where the terrain is flat. India claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on Pakistani armored vehicles with its air raids during its withdrawal, which nevertheless was skilfully completed. The Indians had long recognized the area of ​​Chhamba and Akhnur as of little use for defense due to the nature of the terrain and decided that the best defense would be an Indian advance on Lahore. The Indian advance on Lahore began on 6 September, with a secondary advance on Sialkot the next day.

The Indian attack on Lahore on September 6 was carried out in three directions on a front of 50 km by three infantry divisions with armor attached to them and two infantry divisions in reserve. The northern group of Indians attacked along the axis of the main road. The southern group moved from the area east of Firozpur towards Khem-Karan. The central column, starting on the morning of September 7, advanced from Khalra in the direction of the Pakistani village of Burki.

The goal of the offensive in all three directions was to control the Ichkhogil irrigation canal. This channel was over 40 m wide and 4.5 m deep. Facing east, it served as a kind of tank trap, protecting Lahore. The channel, in turn, was protected by many long-term firing structures.

The Indian offensive ran into a very strong Pakistani defense along the canal. Apparently, for this reason, the Indians launched another attack with forces up to the brigade, 650 km south-west of Firozpur. But soon it became calm again in this sector - after September 18, when the Pakistanis repulsed the attack. On this retreat from the intended goal ended.

The Pakistani 10th Division had taken up defensive positions in front of Lahore just hours before the Indian attacks began, and there were no Pakistani armor east of the canal. The defenders were shocked by the pressure of the Indian attacks, because they treated the military abilities of the Indians with contempt (the costs of hundreds of years of domination of Muslims over Hindus in India; in the end, thousands of years of Aryan tradition and ancient culture prevailed. - Ed.). As a precautionary measure, the Pakistanis blew up seventy bridges over the Ichkhogil Canal, making it a real anti-tank ditch.

The Indian central column captured two villages by nightfall on the first day, while the northern column reached the city outskirts at the canal but was driven back. The southern column advanced through Khem-Karan in the direction of Kasur. Opposition was so small that the Indian commander feared a trap and withdrew his troops to the left bank of the Sutlej River. On the night of September 6, a detachment of Pakistani paratroopers was dropped on the Indian forward air bases at Pathankot, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, but they mostly landed with a wide spread of targets and were surrounded by Indian troops by the end of the next day.

It seemed that neither side had a unified plan of action, and each operation was carried out as if they had no idea what the next step would be. As a result, both sides seemed to be driven by emotion, and their efforts were scattered over such a wide front that they did not have enough strength to make a decisive breakthrough anywhere. There was a deliberate escalation of the war on both sides (and both states apparently did not think about the consequences) - the result of a long period of distrust and hostility towards each other. And that escalation may also have been driven in part by the fact that, in their efforts to bring about a ceasefire, UN monitors kept both sides constantly aware of what each side was up to.

The Indians attacked Burki, a heavily fortified village with eleven long-term concrete emplacements made to look like dirty barracks. It was a night attack in which tanks used both sides. The second major battle was fought continuously over the village of Dogray, which was also heavily fortified, in addition to being defended by dug-in Shermans and recoilless rifles. The Indians reached the east bank of the canal and came under intense artillery fire, but no counterattacks were made by the Pakistanis. Part of the Indian infantry managed to cross the canal, but they were unable to gain a foothold, overtaking their armored vehicles, which were intercepted by Pakistani aircraft along the way. The village of Dogray changed hands several times before the Indians finally took it hours before the 22 September ceasefire. From the very beginning, the battle for Lahore went on continuously, but with varying success until the ceasefire.

Among the bridges blown up by the Pakistanis, one was north of Lahore. His absence prevented the Indians from advancing in that direction, but also prevented the Pakistanis from attacking the Indians from the flank. As a result of this, the Indian reserve tank regiment, located north of Amritsar, was transferred to the Khem-Karan region, which was attacked by the Pakistanis. The Indians captured Khem Karan with their 4th Infantry Division and an armored brigade and again moved west.

On the night of September 7, the Pakistanis launched a counterattack on the left Indian flank with large forces. The Pakistani 1st Armored Division with M-47 and M-48 medium tanks equipped with night vision devices and an additional regiment of M-24 light tanks concentrated in the Kasur area along with an infantry support division. After artillery preparation, a tank attack was carried out in two directions. Five separate attacks were made in the next day and a half, and the Indians were driven back to Khem Karan. During the first strike, Pakistani tanks were pulled up from Pakistan through a tunnel under the canal and thrown into battle without refueling. The Indians, on the other hand, believed that the Pakistani 1st Armored Division was in the Sialkot area. However, despite the fact that both the aforementioned Panzer Division and the Infantry Support Division were involved in these attacks, no breakthrough of the Indian defenses was made.

Meanwhile, the Indians prepared a U-shaped trap near the village of Assal-Uttar. There the infantry, artillery and tanks dug in between the drainage channels, which mostly flowed in a northeasterly direction. The northern flank of this position was protected by a barrier in the form of irrigation channels and water softened earth as a result of flooding due to the blocking of key channels. The southern flank was excluded given the minefield that stretched to the Beas River. The Indians slowly rolled back to this position in order to lure the Pakistanis into a trap.

On September 8, the Pakistanis conducted reconnaissance in combat - ten M-24 tanks and five M-47 tanks. They retreated under fire. A night attack followed, but it was repulsed by Indian artillery concentrated in the center of the position. On September 9, an additional Indian armored brigade was brought up and deployed on the flanks of the artillery concentrated here. On September 10, at 0830, the Pakistanis launched a powerful attack to the northeast with the forces of their 5th Tank Brigade and 2nd Infantry Division. The Pakistani 3rd Armored Brigade remained in reserve on the southern flank. The attack faltered. The Pakistani tanks turned into a field of high sugarcane, behind which the dug-in Indian infantry with Centurion tanks attached to them was hiding. As soon as the Pakistani armored vehicles revealed themselves with undulating movements of sugar cane about 3 meters high, the Centurions opened fire, supported by 106 mm recoilless rifles mounted on jeeps.

Then, without conducting reconnaissance, the 4th Tank Brigade launched a scattered attack along the front on the Indian northern flank. When she reached the flooded place, she turned south, and was hit in the flank by Indian Shermans (with 76-mm guns) firing from the trenches. The Pakistanis withdrew during the night, leaving behind 30 damaged tanks, as well as ten serviceable tanks that had run out of fuel. Personnel losses were heavy and included the division commander and his artillery officer. Pakistani troops were withdrawn to Khem Karan, where they dug in, holding three strips of Indian territory, 15 kilometers each, until a ceasefire.

The Pakistani attack involved moving in two columns. The southern column was supposed to take the bridge over the Beas River, which was a segment of the main highway, after hitting parallel to the river. The northern column was to take Amritsar. The central column also intended to reach the main thoroughfare. The movement plan took into account the nature of the terrain - with parallel rivers, numerous canals and many drainage channels that ran roughly parallel to the northeast from the border area. This would pose a threat to India and was a possible development that Indians have always feared. It was for this reason that an Indian armored division and other troops were stationed in the Jalandhar area.

In addition to the 1st Indian Armored Division, Jalandhar also had four infantry and mountain divisions. The bulk of the Pakistani army was located in the Punjab. On September 4, an Indian armored division boarded a train at Jalandhar. She arrived in Jammu on the morning of 8 September and disembarked. Then at night she advanced in the direction of Sialkot. The movement of three thousand different vehicles (including 150 civilian trucks involved) along a single road was fraught with the danger of an enemy devastating air strike, but the risk was justified. Together with the 1st Indian Corps, which was engaged in the area, a demonstrative diversionary attack was made towards Akhnur, but the real attack was made from Samba in three columns towards Phillora, where most of the Pakistani armor was located.

As previously mentioned, one day after the start of the Indian offensive on Lahore, I Indian Corps on the night of September 7 launched an attack near Sialkot against the Pakistani IV Corps, the 15th division and six regiments of medium and light tanks defending this city. The Pakistani 7th Infantry Division, which had advanced from Chhamb with the Paratroop Brigade and the newly formed 6th Armored Division at the head, was ready to attack. The area was protected by a number of long-term emplacements, as well as a significant amount of Pakistani artillery. In an area of ​​about 12 km 2 of flat terrain began what was destined to become a fifteen-day battle - at close range and in all-consuming dust - between 400 and 60 tanks, now and then brought into battle. The Indians made at least fifteen major attacks with tanks and infantry.

An Indian armored column to the north and an infantry column with some armor to the south aimed at Sialkot. Heavy fighting involving tanks and infantry took place at Phillora and Chavinda. The Indians' immediate target was the Lahore-Sialkot railway. On September 8, by 0900, the Indians reached Phillora. Indian armor suffered heavy losses because it tended to move ahead of supporting infantry and expose its flanks to enemy fire. Many AMX-13 tanks were captured by the Pakistanis intact. The Pakistani counterattack on 8 September was followed by two days of regrouping and reconnaissance. In the Battle of Phillora between the Indian 1st Armored Division and the Pakistani 6th Armored Division, Pakistani tanks also suffered heavy losses due to being too close together.

There were no reserves left. Both sides threw everything they had into battle. Finally, ten massive attacks by Indian tanks and infantry, with tank attacks from different directions, led to the capture of Phillora, which fell under the blows of the southern group of Indians on September 12. Then followed a three-day lull for a new regrouping of forces. On September 14, the Indians attacked Chavinda, a key point of the Sialkot-Pasrur railway line, with Centurions and Shermans. On September 15, the Indians cut the railway at Chavinda and between Pasrur and Sialkot. The Pakistanis counterattacked but used their tanks too dispersed and lacked striking power. At Dera Nanak, the Pakistani sappers blew up the strategic bridge over the Ravi River in order to block the third Indian offensive, thereby, however, eliminating the possibility of making a wide envelopment of the Indian left flank.

September 20 Pakistani attack on the Sialkot-Sughetgarh railway failed. The 3rd Indian Cavalry (Panzer) unit, equipped with Centurions, and the 2nd Armored Brigade, armed with Shermans, beat them up badly. After that, the front became calm until the ceasefire. Sialkot was only partially surrounded. The Indian troops reached the railroad, but the main railroad and highway running westward were not affected. The capture of Sialkot would cut the supply line of the Pakistani troops at Chhamba and endanger the capital of Pakistan, Rawalpindi. At some point, in the midst of the battle, the Indian commander-in-chief broke loose and ordered a retreat, but the local commander refused to comply with the order.

The war went on for twenty-two days, ending quickly, without solving anything and exhausting both sides after many diplomatic efforts. By the time of the ceasefire, at 3:30 am on 23 September, India held the Uri-Poonch salient and territory in the Tithwal area of ​​Sialkot, as well as a strip of land in the Punjab between the Ichhogil Canal and the border. Pakistan held territory captured in the Chkhamb and Akhnur offensive and a narrow wedge in the Khem Karan area. The result was a fighting draw - in response to the call of the UN (special efforts were made. - Ed.) to the world. And although the truce was broken at times (by both sides), by the end of the year it was more or less respected.

The subjective opinions of the participants in the conflict and discrepancies in the reports on both sides make it difficult to study, but it is clear that the losses in personnel among the Indians (who attacked a lot) were twice as high as among the Pakistanis. India admitted that the losses were 2,226 killed and 7,870 wounded and claimed that 5,800 Pakistanis were killed, but this was an exaggeration. Pakistan has suffered heavy losses in junior command personnel and in military equipment, in addition to armored vehicles.

70 Indian planes were shot down and Pakistan lost about 20 planes. Pakistan lost about 200 tanks with another 150 damaged but to be restored. This amounted to 32 percent of all his armored vehicles. The losses of the Indian side in armored vehicles were expressed in the approximate figure of 180 tanks with another two hundred vehicles damaged but subject to restoration, or about 27 percent of all available armored vehicles. It was later reported that 11 Pakistani generals and 32 colonels were retired. Several military trials were held in India and several officers were removed from command, but no further details were revealed.

The Pakistanis could claim superiority in their artillery, but neither side could claim superiority in their tanks, although the Indians seemed to have shown somewhat greater skill in weaponry and maneuvering. The Indians later claimed that Pakistani infantry were often transported in infantry fighting vehicles but rarely dismounted and showed too much dependence on their tanks; that the specifications of the American-made Pakistani tanks required more training from the Pakistani tankers than they received, and more than the Indians required for their AMX-13 and Centurion tanks; and that American tanks exploded more easily because of the way the ammunition was placed in them. And yet, some of this criticism of both sides, perhaps, can be ironed out. This follows from a statement made at Sialkot by Lieutenant General O.P. Dunn, commander of the 1st Indian Corps. In particular, the general admitted that the tanks used were too complex for ordinary peasant soldiers on both sides, adding that “this once again confirms the old truth that it is not behind the car, but behind the person driving this car - the last word ".

A nuclear war can break out not only because of irreconcilable differences between the leading nuclear powers of the world, but also on the basis of the military-political confrontation between the countries of the so-called. third world. For example, India and Pakistan. In the latter case, the danger is the dispute between the two capitals over the status of Kashmir. According to the expert community, the world is a hostage to this conflict, which at any moment can develop into a full-scale war with the use of nuclear weapons.

Experts admit that the model of the Indo-Pakistani confrontation over Kashmir, which is based on a "gift" from the colonial past of these two countries, is an example of an insoluble political conflict with unpredictable consequences for all mankind. In this conflict, a whole bunch of problems are bizarrely intertwined, which can hardly be observed anywhere else in the world, even in our crazy age. First of all, it should be noted that the conflict immediately began with an armed clash between the two states, which at that time had barely managed to gain independence. That is, he was initially involved in blood.

Let's multiply this by the nuclear status of the two countries, the interests of, again, nuclear China, which is striving to turn Asia into a huge market for Chinese products, and the desire of the parties to gain control over fresh water resources.

The bouquet also includes the problem of human rights violations, the problem of the radicalization of society with outbursts of riots, separatism, the spread of the ideas of radical Islamism and, of course, the so-called. "Islamic" terrorism. Let's add here the extremely tense situation in the immediate environment of the two warring states: this is the motley walking field of Afghanistan, China with its Tibetan problem and tension in the historical East Turkestan, Iran, which is gaining power ...

Background to the conflict

As noted above, the conflict over Kashmir is a legacy of the era of British colonial rule in the lands of present-day India and Pakistan. The two states split in 1947. Prior to this, what is now commonly called British India was administratively divided into British India proper and dependent Indian principalities, of which there were about six hundred (!).

Actually, the division into India and Pakistan was carried out by decision of the colonial administration. The principle of religious affiliation of the population was taken as the basis for the division. The Indian princes were given the right to make an independent choice in favor of the future of Pakistan or India. Not all princes decided at once. Some of them wished to maintain their much-desired independence from Britain.

One of these princes was the ruler of the province of Jammu and Kashmir - Maharaja Hari Singh (1895-1961). Maharaja was a Hindu, and the bulk of his subjects were Muslims. It should also be noted that Hari Singh had a sharply negative attitude towards the anti-colonial movement and opposed it both on an all-Indian scale and within his principality.

For example, he had a personal dislike for the main ideologist of the national liberation struggle of the Hindus, Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), who was also of Kashmiri origin. The Maharaja was no better off than the other leaders of the Indian National Congress. However, the post-war history of the 20th century took its own course and moved colonial India in the direction of gaining independence. Therefore, during the partition of British India that began in 1947, Hari Singh found himself in a difficult situation.

Meanwhile, on August 14, 1947, the independence of Pakistan was proclaimed. A day later, the same thing was done in India. Independent India did not attract the Maharaja. But the prospect of absorption by Muslim Pakistan did not please him either. As a result, Hari Singh chose the third path and declared the independence of Kashmir. However, in the summer of 1947, inter-religious clashes began in the principality, and the ruler lost control of the situation.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that a wave of anti-monarchist speeches arose, calling for the expulsion of the Maharaja from Kashmir. The emergence of a Free Kashmir government was announced. This gave Pakistan an excuse to send troops into the territory of the principality, under the pretext of supporting the self-proclaimed government. In response, on October 26, 1947, Hari Singh was forced in a hurry to sign a document on the accession of his principality to India.

As a result of this decision, the first Indo-Pakistani massacre broke out, which ended more favorably for India. About two-thirds of the former principality went to her. These territories received the status of an Indian state with a special legal status. Pakistan was forced to be satisfied with the rest of the Maharaja's possessions and created a province on the part of Kashmir that he had captured under the loud name of Free Kashmir (Azad Kashmir).

So, on the one hand, hitherto inconsistent and therefore shaky borders between the two countries were established, and on the other hand, a constantly smoldering hot spot was created on the political map of the world, which has been keeping the world in suspense for the past seventy years.

(to be continued)

Aidar Khairutdinov

At the time of colonial domination, part of India was under the direct control of the British authorities, while the other was made up of native principalities that had their own rulers semi-autonomous from the British. In the course of granting independence (1947), Britain's "direct" possessions on the subcontinent were divided according to religious principles into two independent states - Hindu and Muslim (India and Pakistan). The native princes (whose number reached 600) received the right to independently decide whether to enter the first or second.

Indo-Pakistani War 1947-48. Movie 1

The Muslim Nawab (monarch) of the Grand Principality of Hyderabad in the center of India decided to join Pakistan. Then the Indian government in 1948 brought its troops into this principality, motivating their actions by the fact that there are many Hindus in Hyderabad. The opposite happened in Kashmir, populated mainly by Muslims and bordering on West Pakistan. His prince, himself a Hindu, announced his intention to annex his possession to India or become an independent sovereign. In October 1947, Pashtun tribes invaded Kashmir from Pakistani territory to prevent the transition of this area under the sovereignty of India. The ruler of Kashmir appealed to Delhi for help.

Indo-Pakistani War 1947-48. Movie 2

By 1948, the conflict in Kashmir had escalated into First Indo-Pakistani War. She turned out to be short-lived. In January 1949, an armistice agreement was signed. Thanks to the activities of the mediation commission of the UN Security Council, a ceasefire line was established in the summer of 1949, one part of which was recognized as an international border, and the other became the line of actual control (which was somewhat changed later as a result of second and third Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971). Northwestern Kashmir (more than a third of the entire region) was under the control of Pakistan. Subsequently, the Azad Kashmir (Free Kashmir) formation was created there, formally representing a free territory.

Partition of British India in 1947. Formation of independent India and Pakistan. The map shows the disputed territories - Hyderabad and Kashmir, as well as areas with a mixed Indo-Muslim population

Two-thirds of the former principality of Kashmir came under the rule of India. These lands were united with adjacent areas inhabited by Hindus, and made up the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Security Council in 1949 adopted a resolution to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir after the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from its northwestern part. But Pakistan refused to comply with the UN demands, and the plebiscite was thwarted. Through control of northwestern Kashmir, Pakistan gained a border with China. Here, in the 1970-1980s, the Karakoram Highway was laid, providing Pakistan with a connection with the PRC.

The Indo-Pakistani conflict over Kashmir has not been resolved. The Pakistani government has since seen India as its main enemy. Separatists remained in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, who opposed joining Pakistan or India and demanded the creation of an independent Kashmir state.

The conflict between India and Pakistan is a protracted armed confrontation that has actually been going on since 1947, when these countries gained independence. During this time, there have already been three major wars and many minor conflicts. It has not yet been possible to reach an agreement, moreover, at the beginning of the 21st century, relations between these states only worsened.

The reasons

The main reason for the conflict between India and Pakistan is the dispute over the Kashmir region. This is an area located in the northwestern part of the Hindustan peninsula. Its division is not actually secured by any official agreements; it is a key hotbed of tension between the countries that occupy it.

Kashmir is currently divided into several parts. This is the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is home to about 10 million people, the self-proclaimed state of Azad Kashmir, which can be translated as "free Kashmir", it is home to about 3.5 million people, it is controlled by Pakistan. There are also northern territories of Gilgit-Baltistan under the control of Pakistan, where about 1 million more people live. A small area of ​​Kashmir is within the borders of China.

As a result of the First Kashmir War, India gained control over two-thirds of the territory of the region, the rest passed to Pakistan. Because of this region, the tension between the countries still persists.

First Kashmir War

The conflict between India and Pakistan turned into armed clashes in 1947. After the countries gained independence, the region had to go to Pakistan, as it was dominated by Muslims. But in the leadership of Kashmir there were Hindus who decided to join India.

It all started with the fact that Pakistan declared the northern part of the principality its territory and sent troops there. The Pakistanis quickly defeated the militias. It was assumed that the troops would move towards the main city of Srinagar, but instead the army stopped in the captured settlements, proceeding to loot.

In response, Indian troops took up a circular defense around Srinagar, defeating the Muslim militia operating on the outskirts of the city. Stopping the persecution of the tribal forces, the Hindus tried to unblock the Kashmiri troops in the Poonch region. However, this failed, but the city of Kotli was occupied, but they could not hold it. In November 47, the Muslim militia captured Mipur.

After an attack by tribal troops, Janger was captured. The counteroffensive of the Hindus was called Operation Vijay. India made a new attempt to attack the Pakistani troops on May 1, 1948. They met fierce resistance from the Muslims near Janger, they were joined by Pakistani irregular detachments.

India continued to attack, launching Operation Gulab. Their targets were the Gurez and Keran valleys. At the same time, the besieged in Poonch broke through the blockade. But still, the Muslims were able to continue the blockade of this strategically important city. As part of Operation Bison, Indian light tanks were transferred to Zoji-La. On November 1, they made a sudden and swift offensive, forcing the Muslims to retreat first to Matayan and then to Dras.

Finally, it was possible to carry out the de-blockade of Punch. The city was liberated after a siege that lasted a whole year.

Outcome of the first war

The first stage of the Indo-Pakistani conflict ended with a truce. About 60% of the territory of Kashmir came under the patronage of India, control over the remaining areas was retained by Pakistan. This decision was enshrined in a UN resolution. Officially, the truce began to operate on January 1, 1949.

During the first conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indians lost 1,104 people killed and more than three thousand wounded. On the Pakistani side, 4,133 people were killed and more than 4,500 were injured.

Second Kashmir War

The established truce was broken in 1965. The armed conflict was short-lived, but bloody. It lasted from August to September.

It all started with an attempt by Pakistan to stage an uprising in the Indian part of Kashmir. Back in the spring of 1965, there was a border conflict. Who provoked him remains unknown. After several armed clashes, the combat units were brought to full readiness. Great Britain prevented the conflict from flaring up, which achieved an agreement on the As a result, Pakistan received a territory of 900 square kilometers, although it initially claimed a larger area.

These events convinced the Pakistani leadership of the significant superiority of their army. It soon tried to resolve the conflict by force. The secret services of the Muslim state sent saboteurs, whose goal was to launch a war in August 1965. The operation was codenamed "Gibraltar". The Indians became aware of the sabotage, the troops destroyed the camp where the militants were trained.

The onslaught of the Indians was so powerful that soon the largest city of the Pakistani part of Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, was under threat. On September 1, Pakistan launched a counteroffensive, from that moment an open war began. Five days later, the Indian army invaded Pakistan, striking at the large city of Lahore.

After that, both sides carried out offensives with varying degrees of success. In East Pakistan, the Indian Air Force carried out regular strikes. On September 23, the war ended under pressure from the UN.

Effects

With the participation of the USSR, the Tashkent Declaration on a ceasefire was signed. In both countries, state propaganda reported a convincing victory. In reality, it was actually a draw. The Pakistani and Indian air forces suffered significant losses, although there is no reliable information.

Some 3,000 Indians and 3,800 Pakistanis were killed in the fighting. NATO countries have imposed an arms embargo on these countries. As a result, Pakistan began to cooperate with China, and India was forced to establish close ties with the USSR.

Bangladesh War of Independence

A new round of the Indo-Pakistani conflict happened in 1971. This time the reason was the intervention of India in the civil war in the territory

The crisis was long overdue there, the inhabitants of the eastern part of the country constantly felt like second-class people, the language spoken in the west was recognized as the state language, after a powerful tropical cyclone that killed about 500,000 people, the central authorities began to be accused of inaction and ineffective assistance . In the east, they demanded the resignation of President Yahya Khan. At the end of 1970, the Freedom League party, which advocated the autonomy of eastern Pakistan, won the parliamentary elections.

According to the constitution, the Freedom League could form a government, but the leaders of western Pakistan were against the appointment of Rahman as prime minister. As a result, the latter announced the beginning of the struggle for the independence of eastern Pakistan. The army launched an operation to suppress the rebels, Rahman was arrested. After that, his brother read over the radio the text of the declaration of independence, proclaiming the creation of Bangladesh. The Civil War began.

Indian intervention

At first, she moved steadily forward. According to various estimates, from 300,000 to 1,000,000 inhabitants of the eastern part of the country were killed, about 8 million refugees went to India.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi supported the independence of Bangladesh, thus beginning a new round in the history of the conflict between India and Pakistan. The Indians began to support the guerrilla groups, and also carried out successful military operations, retreating across the border. On November 21, the Indian Air Force carried out strikes on targets in Pakistan. The regular troops moved in. After air raids on Indian bases, Gandhi officially announced the start of the war.

On all fronts, the superiority was on the side of the Indians.

Bangladesh gains independence

As a result of the intervention of the Indian army, Bangladesh gained independence. After the defeat in the war, Yahya Khanu retired.

Relations between the countries normalized after the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972. It was the largest conflict between these two countries. Pakistan lost 7,982 killed, Indians 1,047.

Current state

For Pakistan and India, Kashmir still remains a stumbling block. Since then, there have been two armed border conflicts (in 1984 and 1999), which were not of a large-scale nature.

In the 21st century, relations between India and Pakistan have escalated due to the fact that both states received from their patrons or developed nuclear weapons themselves.

Today, the United States and China are supplying arms to Pakistan, and Russia to India. Interestingly, at the same time, Pakistan is interested in military cooperation with the Russian Federation, while America is trying to take away contracts for the supply of weapons to India.

Islamabad and Delhi are ready to arrange a nuclear massacre at any moment. We continue to analyze contemporary conflict situations in the world that can lead to large-scale wars. Today we will talk about more than 60 years of Indo-Pakistani confrontation, which in the 21st century was aggravated by the fact that both states have developed (or received from their patrons) nuclear weapons and are actively building up their military power.

A threat to everyone

The Indo-Pakistani military conflict occupies perhaps the most sinister place in the list of modern threats to humanity. According to Russian Foreign Ministry official Alexander Shilin, “the confrontation between these two states became especially explosive when both India and Pakistan, after conducting a series of nuclear tests, demonstrated their ability to create nuclear weapons. Thus, the South Asian military confrontation has become the second center of nuclear deterrence in the entire world history (after the Cold War between the USSR and the USA).

This is exacerbated by the fact that neither India nor Pakistan have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and continue to refrain from joining it. They consider this treaty discriminatory, that is, it secures the right to possess nuclear weapons for a small group of “privileged” countries and cuts off all other states from the right to ensure their own security by all available means. Accurate data on the nuclear capabilities of the armed forces of India and Pakistan are not published in the open press.

According to some estimates, both states have set themselves the goal (and may have already achieved it) to increase the number of nuclear weapons from 80 to 200 on each side. If they are used, this is enough for an ecological catastrophe to call into question the survival of all mankind. The causes of the conflict and the bitterness with which it develops indicate that such a threat is quite real.

History of the conflict

As you know, India and Pakistan until 1947 were part of the British colony of India. Great Britain in the 17th century, by fire and sword, took "under its wing" the feudal principalities that existed here. They were inhabited by numerous nationalities, which could be roughly divided into the Hindus themselves - the indigenous inhabitants of the country and Muslims - the descendants of the Persians who conquered India in the XII-XIII centuries. All these peoples lived relatively peacefully with each other.

However, the Hindus were concentrated mainly in what is now India, and the Muslims in what is now Pakistan. In the lands that now belong to Bangladesh, the population was mixed. In large part, it consisted of Bengals - Hindus who profess Islam.

Britain brought confusion to the relatively peaceful life of the tribes. Following the old and proven principle of "divide and rule", the British pursued a policy of separating the population along religious lines. Nevertheless, the national liberation struggle that is constantly going on here led after the Second World War to the formation of independent states. The northwestern Punjab, Sindh, the Northwestern province, and Balochistan were ceded to Pakistan. This was indisputable, since these lands were inhabited by Muslims.

A separate area was part of the previously divided Bengal - East Bengal or East Pakistan. This enclave could communicate with the rest of Pakistan only through the territory of India or by sea, but for this it was necessary to travel more than three thousand miles. This division has already created a hotbed of tension between the two countries, but the main problem is the situation with the principalities of Jammu and Kashmir.

In the Kashmir Valley, 9 people out of ten were Muslims. At the same time, historically, the entire ruling elite consisted of Hindus, who naturally wanted to incorporate the principality into India. Naturally, the Muslims did not agree with this prospect. In Kashmir, spontaneous militias began to be created, and groups of armed Pashtuns began to infiltrate from the territory of Pakistan. On October 25, they entered the capital of the principality of Srinagar. Two days later, Indian units took back Srinagar and pushed the rebels back from the city. The government of Pakistan also sent regular troops into the fight. At the same time, repressions against non-believers took place in both countries. Thus began the first Indo-Pakistani war.

Artillery was widely used in bloody battles, armored units and aviation participated. By the summer of 1948, the Pakistani army occupied the northern part of Kashmir. On August 13, the UN Security Council adopted a ceasefire resolution by both sides, but it was not until July 27, 1949 that Pakistan and India signed a truce. Kashmir was divided into two parts. For this, both sides paid a terrible price - more than a million dead and 17 million refugees.

On May 17, 1965, the 1949 truce of the year was violated, according to many historians, by India: an Indian infantry battalion crossed the ceasefire line in Kashmir and took several Pakistani border posts with battle. On September 1, the regular units of the Pakistani and Indian armies in Kashmir entered into combat contact. The Pakistani Air Force began to strike at major cities and industrial centers in India. Both countries actively deployed airborne troops.

It is not known how all this would have ended if it were not for the strongest diplomatic pressure that forced Delhi to stop the war. The Soviet Union, an old and traditional ally of India, was annoyed by this military adventure in Delhi. The Kremlin feared, not without reason, that China might enter the war on the side of its allied Pakistan. If this happened, the US would support India; then the USSR would have been relegated to the background, and its influence in the region would have been undermined.

At the request of Alexei Kosygin, then Egyptian President Nasser personally flew to Delhi and criticized the Indian government for violating the ceasefire agreement. On September 17, the Soviet government invited both sides to meet in Tashkent and resolve the conflict peacefully. On January 4, 1966, Indo-Pakistani negotiations began in the Uzbek capital. After much debate, on January 10, it was decided to withdraw troops to the pre-war line and restore the status quo.

Neither India nor Pakistan were satisfied with the "pacification": each of the parties considered their victory stolen. Indian generals stated that if the USSR had not intervened, they would have been sitting in Islamabad for a long time. And their Pakistani colleagues claimed that if they had another week, they would have blocked the Indians in southern Kashmir and made a tank attack on Delhi. Soon, both of them again had the opportunity to measure their strength.

It began with the fact that on November 12, 1970, a typhoon swept over Bengal, claiming about three hundred thousand lives. The colossal destruction further worsened the standard of living of the Bengalis. They blamed the Pakistani authorities for their plight and demanded autonomy. Islamabad sent troops there instead of help. It was not a war that began, but a massacre: the first Bengalis who came across were crushed by tanks, grabbed on the streets and taken to a lake in the vicinity of Chittagong, where tens of thousands of people were machine-gunned and their bodies drowned in the lake. Now this lake is called the Lake of the Risen. Mass emigration to India began, where about 10 million people ended up. India began to provide military assistance to the rebel detachments. This eventually led to a new India-Pakistan war.

Bengal became the main theater of operations, where the navies of both sides played a crucial role in the operations: after all, this Pakistani enclave could only be supplied by sea. Given the overwhelming power of the Indian Navy - an aircraft carrier, 2 cruisers, 17 destroyers and frigates, 4 submarines, while the Pakistani fleet had a cruiser, 7 destroyers and frigates and 4 submarines - the outcome of events was a foregone conclusion. The most important result of the war was the loss of Pakistan's enclave: East Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh.

The decades that have passed since this war have been rich in new conflicts. Particularly acute occurred in late 2008-early 2009, when the Indian city of Mumbai was attacked by terrorists. At the same time, Pakistan refused to extradite the persons suspected of involvement in this action to India.

Today, India and Pakistan continue to balance on the brink of open war, with the Indian authorities saying that the fourth Indo-Pakistani war should be the last.

The silence before the explosion?

The first vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, doctor of military sciences Konstantin Sivkov, in an interview with a SP correspondent, commented on the situation in modern relations between India and Pakistan:

In my opinion, at the moment the Indo-Pakistani military conflict is at the bottom of the conditional sinusoid. The leadership of Pakistan today is tackling the difficult task of resisting pressure from Islamic fundamentalists who find support in the depths of Pakistani society. In this regard, the conflict with India faded into the background.

But the confrontation between Islam and the Pakistani authorities is very typical for the current world alignment. The Pakistani government is pro-American to the core. And the Islamists who fight against the Americans in Afghanistan and strike at their henchmen in Pakistan represent the other side - objectively, so to speak, anti-imperialist.

As for India, it is not up to Pakistan now either. She sees where the world is heading and is seriously busy rearming her army. Including modern Russian military equipment, which, by the way, is almost never supplied to our troops.

Who is she armed against?

It is clear that sooner or later the US may inspire a war with Pakistan. The long-standing conflict is fertile ground for this. In addition, the current NATO war in Afghanistan may influence the provocation of the next round of the Indo-Pakistani military confrontation.

The fact is that during the time it has been going on, the United States has delivered to Afghanistan (and, therefore, indirectly to the Pakistani Taliban) a huge amount of ground weapons, the return of which back to the United States is an economically unprofitable operation. This weapon is destined to be used, and it will shoot. The Indian leadership understands this. And prepare for such a course of events. But the current rearmament of the Indian army has, in my opinion, a more global goal.

What are you speaking about?

I have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the world with catastrophic acceleration rushed to the beginning of the "hot" period of the next world war. This is due to the fact that the global economic crisis has not ended, and it can be resolved only by building a new world order. And there has never been a case in history when a new world order was built without bloodshed. Events in North Africa and elsewhere are the prologue, the first sounds of the coming world war. The Americans are at the head of a new redistribution of the world.

Today we are witnessing an almost fully formed military coalition of US satellites (Europe plus Canada). But the coalition opposing it is still being formed. In my opinion, it has two components. The first is the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). The second component is the countries of the Arab world. They are just beginning to realize the need to create a single defense space. But the process is moving fast.

The Indian leadership is perhaps most adequately responding to the ominous changes in the world. It seems to me that it is soberly looking into a more or less distant future, when the formed anti-American coalition will still have to face the main enemy. In India, there is a real reform of the army, not like ours.

Disappointing calculations

Alexander Shilov, an employee of one of the departments of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has a slightly different opinion:

It is clear that India's nuclear deterrence is directed primarily against those states that it considers likely adversaries. First of all, it is Pakistan, which, like India, is taking steps to form strategic nuclear forces. But the potential threat from China has also been a major factor in India's military planning for many years.

Suffice it to recall that the Indian nuclear military program itself, the beginning of which dates back to the mid-60s, was mainly a response to the appearance of nuclear weapons by the PRC (1964), especially since China in 1962 inflicted a heavy defeat on India in the border war . A few dozen charges seem to be enough to deter Pakistan from India. In the opinion of Indian experts, in this case, the minimum would be the potential to ensure the survival of 25-30 carriers with ammunition after the first sudden nuclear strike from Pakistan.

Considering the size of India's territory and the possibility of a significant dispersal of nuclear attack weapons, it can be assumed that a strike from Pakistan, even the most massive one, will not be able to disable most of the Indian strategic nuclear forces. A retaliatory strike by the Indians using at least 15-20 nuclear warheads will undoubtedly lead to irreparable damage up to the complete collapse of the Pakistani economy, especially since the range of Indian aviation and ballistic missiles developed by Delhi allows hitting virtually any object in Pakistan.

Therefore, if we keep in mind only Pakistan, an arsenal of 70-80 ammunition may be more than enough. In fairness, it should be noted that the Indian economy will hardly be able to withstand a nuclear strike using at least 20-30 charges from the same Pakistan.

However, if we proceed simultaneously from the principle of causing unacceptable damage and not being the first to use nuclear weapons, then in the case of China, it will be necessary to have an arsenal at least comparable to that of China, and Beijing now has 410 charges, of which no more than 40 are on intercontinental ballistic missiles. that if we count on the first strike from China, then Beijing is able to disable a very significant part of India's nuclear attack weapons. Thus, their total number should be approximately comparable to the Chinese arsenal and reach several hundred in order to ensure the required percentage of survival.

As for Pakistan, the leadership of this country constantly makes it clear that the threshold for the possible use of nuclear weapons in Islamabad may be very low. At the same time (unlike India), Islamabad apparently intends to proceed from the possibility of using its nuclear weapons first.

Thus, according to the Pakistani analyst, Lieutenant General S. Lodi, “in the event of a dangerous situation, when the Indian offensive using conventional means threatens to break through our defenses, or has already made a breakthrough that cannot be eliminated by the usual measures at our disposal, the government will have no choice but to use our nuclear weapons to stabilize the situation.”

In addition, according to a number of statements by the Pakistanis, as a countermeasure in the event of a massive offensive by Indian ground forces, nuclear land mines can be used to mine the border zone with India.