SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The main theme of the study is to examine and analyse aspects of the political geography of Pakistan in some detail. The secondary objective is to relate the course of events in Pakistan's foreign relations and boundary problems, to the socio-economic and political conditions of Pakistan and her people as a whole. The study also endeavours to evaluate the inter-regional disparity in Pakistan. The Partition of the Subcontinent and its effects are analysed in detail with special reference to the Radcliffe Awards. Geopolitically Pakistan emerged as a dislocated state with a variety of inherent problems e.g., defence, political incoherence, economic and administrative disparities. Moreover, the birth of Pakistan was subjected to the tremendous psychological disadvantage that she would find herself in great economic distress and that its vulnerability in politicoeconomic fields would inevitably lead towards her eventual collapse. Pakistan pursued an independent but active policy until 1954, and endeavoured to forge closer relations with countries of West Asia without jeopardising her relations with any of the big powers. However, in 1954 Pakistan chose a path of alignment with the western powers and entered into a number of bilateral and multilateral defence pacts in view of her geopolitical compulsions. The study demonstrates that newly independent states, especially states which are geographically discontiguous such as Pakistan, are put Tinder severe social, political and military pressures. In case such a state fails to achieve a measure of national unity and lacks a cohesive force, then the very existence of her separate regions might he threatened. In the case of Pakistan the bilateral and multilateral defensive arrangements became non-productive even counter-productive as was demonstrated during the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971.