Trade and cultural exchanges boost relations, with cricket playing a significant role
THE POLITICAL SCENARIO of border-sharing neighbours co-existing in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and sporadic clashes is not an unfamiliar one.
When the British partitioned India into two countries in August 1947 on the eve of their departure as colonial rulers, they may not have realised that they had created a physical and psychological divide that would keep the Indian subcontinent from becoming a world superpower, and that this situation would prevail for well over half a century.
Pakistan and India engaged in two punishing wars in the third quarter of the 20th century, and the two continue to clash on the question of Kashmir and how much of the state belongs to either country.
The rift has been exploited by other nations, including the United States and the Soviet bloc, and this has not helped to improve relations between two neighbours who share a common cultural background, and even speak common languages (Punjabi and Urdu).
A little into the new millennium, however, the wisdom of living in harmony and an environment of mutual prosperity seems to have dawned on the leadership of both countries.