By The Way

Of all the wars fought between India and Pakistan, the first one, the 1947-48 conflict over Kashmir, is perhaps the strangest. It is mentioned in history textbooks as the “First India-Pakistan War,” as if the two countries were fully formed, sovereign rivals, fully ready with their armies, and their naval and air forces. But that is not how things really were. The reality is frankly quite bizarre. Indian troops landing on the Srinagar Airfield, 1947. In late 1947, India and Pakistan were not quite the “republics” in the sense we now understand them. They were dominions, legally still under the British Crown. George VI was the King of both countries. Yes,  the same King.  There was no President of India, no President of Pakistan. Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan were Prime Ministers, not heads of state. Their respective countries were still transitioning out of the British Empire, and in the middle of this awkward situation, a war broke out. A war in which both dominions h...