Diplomacy Averts 1990’s Crisis between India and Pakistan: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

There are many contagious issues between India and Pakistan, which create hurdles in the way of permanent peace in South Asia. Kashmir dispute, border disputes at Siachen and Sir Creek areas and water dispute are the major issues between the two countries. These two states have fought three major wars and one limited war with each other. There were many crises when India and Pakistan came to the edge of war with each other. The crises occurring between the two states after getting nuclear capabilities were of greater anxiety in the international community. The crisis between the two states in 1990 was the first one with a nuclear dimension. Both states seemed to be at the edge of a conventional war when India decided to go for a war against Pakistan to lower Kashmir insurgency. Pakistan perceiving a threat of a conventional war from Indian side decided to go for all options including the use of nuclear weapons to maintain its integrity and sovereignty. The objective is to know the variable which averted Indo-Pak 1990 crisis, whether it was nuclear deterrence or diplomacy. The qualitative methodology is used to get the results with secondary data analysis. The article finds that it was the diplomacy and not the nuclear weapons which averted war between India and Pakistan during the 1990 crisis.