In 1947, British India was divided into two countries, India and Pakistan. Even though these two nations became independent countries on the global stage in the same year and period, their histories and the direction they have taken over the years have been very different. India was able to hold itself as an impressive democracy and experience a booming economy, while i Pakistan has been battling a range of challenges such as political instability, poverty, and security threats. In this regard, the paper is concerned with the root causes of these trajectories, focusing on Pakistan’s issues while clarifying the role of the military and financial support from India and how Pakistan overcame these hardships to grow.
The Unequal Inheritance
At the time of partition, the distribution of resources between India and Pakistan was highly unbalanced and thus placed Pakistan in a perilous position. The British Indian Empire possessed financial funds, military supplies, and organizational structures which had to be apportioned on some basis of population with Pakistan entitled to get about 17. 5% of these assets.
At that time, the Reserve Bank of India had about $1 billion in cash. Based on the agreed ratio, Pakistan had a right to almost $175 million. At the onset, Pakistan received only $50 million. India denied the rest $125 million payment citing escalating tension in the relationship especially on the issue of Kashmir. India agreed to transfer only $ 125 million only after consistent international pressure and intervention of Mahatma Gandhi but by then the delay had severely hampered Pakistan’s economy.
Of the total military assets of the British Indian Army valued at approximately $800 million, Pakistan was due to receive $140 million. However, Pakistan got far cheaper machinery, including many items that were either decommissioned or defunct, most often refurbished spare parts. In addition, unlike in British India which had 16 ordnance factories, none of these were in present-day Pakistan so the new state could not produce its weapons or ammunitions by itself.
The industrial divide was also essential in understanding the different trajectories of both countries. Up till the commencement of the colonial period, most of the construction of industrial infrastructure such as textile mills, steel factories and engineering companies were initiated in territories that later formed part of India. Pakistan inherited almost a tenth of the industrial plants of British India, valued at less than $25 million, while India retained the rest, worth several hundred million dollars.
The massive refugee problem following the partition added to the troubles of Pakistan, as it witnessed one of the largest migrations in modern history. About 14-18 million people migrated, with around 10 million Muslims migrating to Pakistan from India. Pakistan’s problems were aggravated by a fast flow of refugees and their impact intensified economic and social issues. Pakistan started with scarce financial capital, weak military hardware, and poor infrastructure, and significantly it encountered great difficulties though it had found ways to sustain and even grow out of these odds.
Political Foundations and Leadership
Political structure and leadership of the two countries that each inherited at the time of their independence also played an important role as to why the two are different today. The Indian National Congress brought India to a relatively stable political form that practices democracy, secularism, and a mixed economy. A socialist state with strong central institutions was envisaged by Nehru which contributed to building up political stability in India and paved the way for slow but sure economic growth.
On the other hand, the base of Pakistan’s political structure was comparatively weaker. For the Muslim League, which spearheaded the demand for Pakistan, it was more of a movement than a well-oiled machine like a political party. After independence, the party had a very hard time moving from a freedom-fighting party to a ruling political party. Uncertainty was also influenced by the death of Pakistan’s founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1948 and the assassination of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951 which caused a lot of political instability. Being a country of rather diverse ethnicity, the linguistic and cultural differences between East and West Pakistan created many problems in administration and governance. It kept the two wings drifting apart culminating in the separation of 1971.
Economic Strategies and Industrial Development
It is therefore evident that with the use of these economic measures, India has fared better than Pakistan and has taken a better path. During the premiership of Jawaharlal Nehru, India soon adopted the Mixed Economy Model which advocated state intervention in the industrialization process along with the policy of self-reliance. The Indian government put into practice a number of Five-Year Plans for the development of certain strategic sectors and infrastructure and for the improvement of agriculture. As much as this procedure is not free from shortcomings, it succeeded in sowing the seeds for formulating India’s long-term structural transformation.
Pakistan, on the other hand, since the start has had immense problems and challenges with reference to the economy. There was not a strong industrial base in the country particularly in West Pakistan and mostly depends upon agriculture which is affected by weather and foreign markets. The early economic development policies of Pakistan was to foster growth of central authority for the country’s businesses and economic growth but the effort was sometimes marred by political instabilities and resource constraints.
However, Pakistan achieved significant economic development in the early years especially in the 1960’ during the regime of President Ayub Khan. Some of the economic reforms implemented by Ayub’s government included; the Green Revolution to improve the country’s agriculture production, and the setting up of large-scale industrial units in Karachi and Lahore. These reforms produced high rates of economic growth and Pakistan often was named as a model of development for other new members of the developing countries. However, the growth that took place in the 1960s did not get distributed equitably, thereby deepening existing disparities between the two wings of Pakistan and leading to political turmoil. The 1971 loss of East Pakistan had a devastating effect on the country’s economy but after some time as international aid became available, Pakistan recovered from the damages.
Social Cohesion and National Identity
Political solidarity and unity of the nation have been a significant factor that brought differences in the destiny of India and Pakistan. It is important to note that, given its complicated ethnic and political structure and contrary to expectations, India is successfully embarking on the formation of its national idea based on secularism and democracy. The Indian Constitution, adopted in the year 1950 liberalized equality rights, justice, and fraternity rights which in turn helped in building up a feeling of fraternity among the Indian citizens.
While on the other hand, Pakistan faced some challenges to evolve a nationwide identification. The very idea of the country was based on the Two-Nation Theory which emphasized Muslims’ different way of life from that of the Hindus in the subcontinent. Nevertheless, religious identification as a nation without confusing Pakistan’s diverse ethnic, linguistic, and cultural groups failed. The political relations between East and West Pakistan which has some social divisions based on language and disparity in economic growth caused the breakup of the country in 1971.
During the period after East Pakistan seceded, the government attempted to renew nationalists making the focal marker of identity as Islamic. While this has been somewhat successful, this strategy has also had its challenges, especially in the management of religion in a public context, especially in dealing with the diversity of the people in the country.
Pakistan’s Resilience and Survival
However, several problems can be mentioned and it could be pointed out that Pakistan has been rather adaptive and has shown good results given the difficult conditions in the world economy. Despite war and political instabilities, economical downfall, and disasters, this nation has recorded its sovereignty and growth.
Pakistan enjoys a very strategic location which has proved to be essential for the existence of the country and it plays a very significant role in regional and world politics. During the Cold War period the nature of relationship between Pakistan and the United States of America was mutually beneficial because the later not only helped Pakistan in enhancing its defenses but also assisted in its development process. After the Cold War, Pakistan remained vital to counter-terrorism, and of particular relevance is its role in Afghanistan and South Asia.
One of the reasons that has kept Pakistan going is the robust civil society and the ability of the society to bounce back. Even though the level of political unrest, as well as the economic issues, remain significant challenges in Pakistan it has a civil society, it has a growing private sector, and the middle income-earning groups. Many entrepreneurs have emerged in the country, especially the youth who have played a significant role to the development of sectors such as technology, media, and even education.
Conclusion
Both India and Pakistan have had diverging paths since independence because of various factors that include the distribution of resources at the partition time, the disparities in the leadership style of these two nations, and the policies as well as the scope of their economies and social structures. While giving stable political support to India got a better economic ground to stand for and a common identity to be called Pakistani had several issues like inequality distribution of resources and instability in the political field. But it must be noted that Pakistan’s story is not of a failure. For the country to move forward, Pakistan needs to take along those lessons learned and capitalize on what needs to be done to tackle the future.
