What if India And Pakistan was never separated
We couldn’t help but believe that August 15, 1947, was the day the Indian subcontinent was divided into Pakistan and India, as well as the day we declared our independence from British authority in India. Since the division on August 14–15, 1947, each nation has developed its independent future course.
While the aftereffects of partition are living history, one wonders what would have been if India had not been partitioned at all. How different our lives would have been if Pakistan was still a part of India? How the politics and economy would have looked like? Would the two now bitter rivals could have fared as a superpower if still been a single country today? Let’s take a guess:
The Indian subcontinent is huge not only in terms of sheer land area but also in terms of the region’s population and cultural impact on our world. currently, seven different countries exist in the region India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. so what would it look like if all seven of these modern countries united overnight to form a new and larger country? that we’ll be calling for simplicity greater India well for starters the new country’s population would be gargantuan 1 billion 728 million 904 000 people or about 23 of the entire world’s population almost one out of every four people is more people than live in north America, south America, the Caribbean, and Europe combined.
India alone has more people living there than the entire continent of Africa does and that’s only going to increase as time goes on. this can also be seen by taking a glance at the biggest cities across the new country the top three being Delhi, Karachi, and Mumbai all of which have higher populations than even new york city does in the u.s of the country’s top 10 largest cities seven of them would be located in India while two would be in Pakistan and only one in Bangladesh from this it’s obvious that India is the Jupiter of the Indian subcontinent. dominating the region’s gravity and the smaller countries that orbit it by its sheer size but what happens when we quit looking at the subcontinent divided by current political reality? what if we were never divided?
1. Strongest Army
India and Pakistan alone have fought 4 deadly wars and there is a consistent situation of terror attacks. The government spending is 73,853.88 INR cr by the Indian government and 8,300 INR cr by the Pakistan government. They are spending this much to protect from each other but if they were never separated, we would have the world’s largest active army with 24+ lakh soldiers, and both governments can save a ton of money on border conflict and use it on the development of their people.
One of the best advantages of an undivided India would have been the Indian army as it would have been one of the strongest armies in the world. And RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) would have worked together for the safety of the nation.
2. Iran-India natural gas pipeline
Iran-India natural gas pipeline was conceptualized in the 50s and was to connect Iran to India in supplying Natural Gas thereby benefiting both economies tremendously. However, it never happened due to Pakistan’s inability to make up its mind. It was scrapped as Pakistan came under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the US to back out.
If both nations were never divided we could have a direct pipeline of oil and natural gas to Iran and Russia we will be saving a whopping $500-$800 million and a lot of people can use the facility. Pipelines help keep costs low for important consumer goods like gasoline, natural gas, and heating oil. These lower prices provide a direct benefit not only to consumers, but also to producers, distributors, and manufacturers of all sizes across the supply chain. We could cut the price by one-fourth we both nations emerge as one.
Russia abandons the construction of a natural gas pipeline to India and Japan — Seetao. Russian media recently reported that Alexander Perov, the head of the Russian Energy Security Fund, said that Gazprom had given up on the construction of pipelines in India and Japan considering politics and cost factors.
3. The Jammu and Kashmir issue
The resulting Indo-Pakistani War ended with an UN-mediated ceasefire along a line that was eventually named the Line of Control. After further fighting in the wars of 1965 and 1971, the Simla Agreement formally established the Line of Control between the two nations’ controlled territories.
If India had remained undivided, the Kashmir issue perhaps wouldn’t have existed and the tug of war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir would not have existed today, and China would never have been occupying a part of Kashmir.
4. Stronger in different sports like Cricket and Hockey
The Indian cricket team would have more powerful bowlers and skilled batsmen and dominate in the international tournament. A united India could also have done wonders for hockey, allowing the team to soar higher than already existing rivals.
It has led to India’s best-ever Olympics and Paralympics performance in 2020, a Thomas Cup win after 73 years, and many such sporting achievements. Athletes today have all the facilities they need, and the facilities are extended seamlessly by the government through the Sports Ministry and Sports Authority of India.
5. Protection of minorities
The social pluralism of India is fortified by the unique Constitutional concept of secularism, and constitutionally mandated protection and promotion of the rights of all minority communities. The Indian Constitution enshrines secularism in its Preamble. It guarantees fundamental rights to all its minorities.
Pakistan has often failed to protect minorities like Hindus and Christians who have been attacked and seen their communities perish under an unpatronising majority government. A secular India would protect their right to practise their religion and defend them from sectarian as well as communal violence.
6. Women’s empowerment
Women empowerment in India is dependent up to a great extent on numerous different variables that encompass geographical setting (urban/rural), social status (caste and class), educational status, and age factor. Actions on women’s empowerment exist at the state, local (panchayat), and national levels.
Without partition, countries would not be able to impose the culture of a male-dominated society thereby offering women greater opportunities to pursue their dreams.
7. Greater Maritime presence
The maritime and naval component is an important part of the political, economic and military domain of a maritime nation. Pakistan and India apart from being hostile neighbours with over 3,323 km of the international land border also share maritime space in Indian Ocean Region. If the India-Pakistan partition never happened, India would have had extended maritime borders.
8. Political and cultural impact
United India would be blessed with more land and states but that would only mean more political parties trying to extend their ideologies to the areas under their control. They would have most likely not cooperated with the central government on conflicting issues and this could have also limited the dynastic rule of the Congress party.
As result, this would have brought selective progress around the country i.e bringing progress to some parts while others would have been left behind.
9. More religious harmony in the country
Religious harmony in India is a concept that indicates that there is love and affection between different religions in India. The Indian constitution supports and encourages religious harmony. In India, every citizen has a right to choose and practice any religion.
If India was undivided, less religious violence would have taken place and no politician would have been able to say, “Go to Pakistan.”
10. Focus on education and health instead of the defence sector
India will benefit if it spends more on education and social welfare rather than on its defence for dealing with any possible external threat, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s daughter Anita Bose-Pfaff said today.
It will be a happier situation if India is not threatened by war, particularly given the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan which has a very destabilising effect on the sub-continent. If India manages to remain stable, it can.
Instead of spending a huge amount of money on the defence sector, India would have focused more on improving quality of life, health, and education if the country would have been still undivided.
In the next blog, we will discuss how we can make it happen and how can we have Akhand Bharat. In the article Akhand Bharat: Target not a Dream
