Conflict Between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

An encyclopedia that examines the conflict between India and Pakistan from independence to the 21st century, with a treatment that presents the issues from both countries' perspectives. In the 21st century, India and Pakistan face each other like gladiators with opposing ethnic and religious forces grinding like tectonic plates threatening convulsions and destruction. This reference objectively examines the bitter divisions between India and Pakistan and their threat to global stability. Many tensions go back to 1947, when, by partitioning the provinces of Punjab and Bengal and absorbing over 500 princely states, British India was succeeded by two independent countries - a primarily Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan. Subsequently the two countries have fought three wars and come close to open war several times, especially over Kashmir. Since both countries have nuclear weapons, the prospect is that a future Indo-Pakistan conflict could involve a nuclear war. This work describes the people, political parties, and policies that played a role in the conflict from 1947 onwards.

Reviews

"Any high school to college library strong in Asian issues and culture needs this." - Midwest Book Review "With works already in print on conflicts in Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia, Korea, and Northern Ireland, the Roots of Modern Conflict series, as all the ABC-CLIO series, is an excellent collection of reference works for the general population... The series format, consisting of a preface that outlines the issues and importance, the alphabetically arranged encyclopedia entries, epilogue, detailed chronology, appendixes, glossary, index, and extensive bibliography, are all well done. Unlike many encyclopedias whose entries are supplied by a large number of contributors, all elements of this volume are completed by a single author who brings his impeccable credentials to the task." - American Reference Books Annual "... it is the only encyclopedic source of its kind and is recommended for large public libraries and academic libraries." - Reference & User Services Quarterly

Author Bio

Peter Lyon is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, England, and reader emeritus in international relations at the University of London, London, England.