Would India and Afghanistan have had a close relationship had Pakistan not been founded?
Since the 1947 segment of the subcontinent, India and Afghanistan, with the exception of the Taliban time, have had warm ties. Resistance to Pakistan is the principle motivation behind why the two nations have kept up sincere relations (despite the fact that Afghanistan stayed unbiased in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars).
In the two India and Afghanistan, all the more particularly and much of the time in Afghanistan, discuss a long verifiable connection between the two nations is extremely normal. In that soul, hundreds of years' long intrusions from or through present-day Afghanistan into India or the other way around get almost no consideration.
All the more essentially, little idea is given to what course Indo-Afghan relations would have taken, had British India not been isolated. At the end of the day: Would India and Afghanistan have had as close a relationship as they do today, had Pakistan not been established?
Foundation
In 1893, the Afghan Amir Abdur Rahman Khan and the British Indian Foreign Secretary Sir Henry Mortimer Durand consented to an arrangement in Kabul to delimit "the wilderness of Afghanistan in favor of India," and also to settle "the breaking point of their separate range of authority." With the progression of time, the delimited "outskirts" is ordinarily alluded to as the Durand Line.
Despite the fact that resulting Afghan rulers, for example, Amir Habibullah Khan, King Amanullah Khan, and King Nadir Khan restored the "outskirts" concurrence with the British, most Afghans have seen the assention as impermanent, and void when the British left.
It is on the grounds that the line separates families and tribes which were a piece of Afghanistan completely before the 1893 understanding. Under that impression, in July, 1947 Afghan Prime Minister Shah Mahmoud Khan's legislature laid Afghanistan's initially assert over Pashtun domains in British India, which as indicated by the Mountbatten Plan (or 3 June Plan) were bound to wind up some portion of Pakistan. Regardless of whether Afghanistan's claim is substantial or not is out of the extent of this composition.
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At the point when the Mountbatten Plan was put without hesitation, Pakistan acquired the Durand Line from the British. All things considered, Afghanistan and Pakistan couldn't have become off to a more awful begin in their two-sided relations. Barely any months into Pakistan's creation, Afghanistan was the main nation that cast a "No" vote against Pakistan's United Nations enrollment.
From that point forward, relations between the two nations have been tense (spare the Taliban period, which is likewise disputable). It merits saying that Afghanistan still hasn't perceived the Durand Line as a universal outskirt with Pakistan. To gather residential help, previous Afghan President Hamid Karzai would every now and then raise the Durand Line issue and Afghanistan's refusal to acknowledge it as a global outskirt.
India would have supplanted Pakistan
Because of this, if India had not been isolated, the post-1947 Indo-Afghan relations would have had an indistinguishable direction from have Afghan-Pak relations since. At the end of the day, India, rather than Pakistan, would have acquired the Durand Line, with every one of its discussions.
It is equivalent to a dream to trust that India would have surrendered control (and sway) of Pashtun-lion's share regions in India over which Afghanistan has regional cases. There is confirm for this announcement.
A year prior to India's parcel, India's initially Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a voyage through the Pashtun tribal belt in northwestern India. Notwithstanding endeavoring to counter Muslim League endeavors, Nehru made an endeavor to persuade tribal Pashtuns to cast their parts with an assembled India, yet without much of any result.
Nehru found in the key goes of the Pashtun zones a security protection even with a northern intrusion (most likely from the Soviet Union). Past these key passes and mountains, laid the level terrains of the Punjab and the street to Delhi was open. Under no situation Nehru or some other Congress pioneer would have been set up to meet Afghanistan's requests.
As indicated by the British student of history Alex Von Tunzelmann, Nehru was not willing to deal with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue as a result of Kashmir's territory and key mountain passes (see Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of An Empire). After Nehru lost the NWFP in a choice to Pakistan, he was set on keeping Kashmir for India.
Thusly, Afghanistan's relations with a unified India would have been on an impact course from the very beginning. In the wake of losing a larger piece of its populace and trans-Indus region to the British in the earlier century, Afghanistan would not have been in a position to pressure India into action.
To cover its shortcoming versus a Hindu-greater part India, Afghanistan would have put resources into the publicity machine—precisely what it did against Pakistan. Despite the fact that the procedure has been checked recently, stereotyping Hindus is regular in many parts of Afghanistan.
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It is generally trusted that Hindus are 'unbelievers' and therefore quitters, and that 'one Muslim can overwhelm seven Hindus'. Another well known case is alluding to Hindus as 'mis'keen' (poor), not on account of they are poor, but rather in light of the fact that they need 'imaan'.
Incidentally, a large number of the infamous figures according to India's Hindus (particularly Hindu radicals) are respected in Afghanistan. For example, Mahmud of Ghazni and Ahmad Shah Durrani are among a pack of rulers and intruders who are broadly regarded for their intrusions of India.
Zaheer ud-Din Mohammad Babur, organizer of the Mughal Empire, who in his journals never dithers to shroud his dislike of India, its sustenance, climate and traditions likewise appreciates some level of academic and well known help, particularly among ethnic Uzbeks.
Praising these Indophobes' accomplishments and trashing Hindus would have been a prolific ground for summoning hostile to India assessments against a unified India.
Afghanistan's Pashtun card
Afghanistan could likewise have impelled Pashtun tribal distress in a unified India. From 1893 to 1930 (and to a lesser degree to 1947), Afghanistan gave places of refuge and now and again weapons to Pashtun guerilla warriors battling the British in India.
In spite of rehashed British solicitations, Afghanistan would decline to make a move against Pashtun tribesmen who entered Afghanistan subsequent to assaulting British or genius British components in India. Afghanistan could have kept on doing as such, had India not been partitioned.
In unified India, similar to British India, Muslims would have been a minority, and it would have been less demanding for Afghanistan to impel or energize viciousness among the Pashtuns for the sake of religion or flexibility from unbelievers. After Pakistan's establishing, and given that the Pashtuns either through choice or tribal jirgas joined the new state, Afghanistan could never again put money on instigating religious brutality.
All the more essentially and shockingly, unified India would have made a major fracture amongst Indian (and later Pakistani) Pashtun patriot pioneer Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a dear companion of Gandhi's and Nehru's who battled for an assembled India, and Afghanistan.
Today, Khan is generally regarded in Afghanistan principally in light of his Pashtun patriot and against Pakistan slants. Be that as it may, had India not been separated, he would have been looked downward on in Afghanistan, since he didn't need a "more prominent Afghanistan," which would incorporate all Pashtun dominant part territories in Pakistan.
To clear up, there is no recorded articulation accessible that Khan needed Indian Pashtuns to join Afghanistan. At first, he needed an assembled India. When he fizzled, he needed independence for the Pashtuns of Pakistan.
Today, his grandson and successor Asfandyar Wali Khan has surrendered those dreams and is pioneer of the standard Awami National Party in Pakistan, the principle restriction party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Conclusion
One could contend that, in light of accessible authentic realities, Afghanistan and India would have had a strained relationship had a unified India rose out of the slag of the British Raj.
India would have been painted in Afghanistan as a usurper of Pashtun lands. This talk from Afghanistan and India's reaction to it would have genuinely scrutinized the reason for any chronicled relationship contentions.
In the event that anything, Afghanistan and India share clashing accounts of hundreds of years of attacks and victories. Afghanistan, be that as it may, had warm relations with India's Muslims. Be that as it may, a larger part of those Muslims today live outside of India, either in Pakistan or in Bangladesh. The individuals who stay in India are not viewed as steadfast Indians by Hindu radicals at any rate, and are subjected to separation and provocation now and again.
The present close situation amongst India and Afghanistan is for the most part because of restriction in the two nations to Pakistan—to a degree to the nation's presence and to a degree to some of its arrangements. When the norm changes in South Asia, we will witness alienation amongst Afghanistan and India.
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Since the 1947 partition of the subcontinent, India and Afghanistan, except the Taliban era, have had warm ties. Opposition to Pakistan is the main reason why the two countries have maintained cordial relations (even though Afghanistan remained neutral in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars).
In both India and Afghanistan, more especially and frequently in Afghanistan, talk of a long historical relationship between the two countries is very common. In that spirit, centuries’ long invasions from or through present-day Afghanistan into India or vice versa receive little or no attention.
More importantly, little thought is given to what course Indo-Afghan relations would have taken, had British India not been divided. In other words: Would India and Afghanistan have had as close a relationship as they do today, had Pakistan not been founded?
Background
In 1893, the Afghan Amir Abdur Rahman Khan and the British Indian Foreign Secretary Sir Henry Mortimer Durand signed an agreement in Kabul to delimit “the frontier of Afghanistan on the side of India,” as well as to fix “the limit of their respective sphere of influence.” With the passage of time, the delimited “frontier” is commonly referred to as the Durand Line.
Even though subsequent Afghan rulers such as Amir Habibullah Khan, King Amanullah Khan, and King Nadir Khan renewed the “frontier” agreement with the British, most Afghans have seen the agreement as temporary, and void as soon as the British left.
It is because the line divides families and tribes which were part of Afghanistan in their entirety before the 1893 agreement. Under that impression, in July, 1947 Afghan Prime Minister Shah Mahmoud Khan’s government laid Afghanistan’s first claim over Pashtun territories in British India, which according to the Mountbatten Plan (or 3 June Plan) were destined to become part of Pakistan. Whether Afghanistan’s claim is valid or not is out of the scope of this writing.
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When the Mountbatten Plan was put into action, Pakistan inherited the Durand Line from the British. As such, Afghanistan and Pakistan couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start in their bilateral relations. Few months into Pakistan’s creation, Afghanistan was the only country that cast a “No” vote against Pakistan’s United Nations membership.
Since then, relations between the two countries have been tense (save the Taliban era, which is also debatable). It is worth mentioning that Afghanistan still hasn’t recognised the Durand Line as an international border with Pakistan. To garner domestic support, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai would from time to time bring up the Durand Line issue and Afghanistan’s refusal to accept it as an international border.
India would have replaced Pakistan
With this in mind, if India had not been divided, the post-1947 Indo-Afghan relations would have had the same trajectory as have Afghan-Pak relations since. In other words, India, instead of Pakistan, would have inherited the Durand Line, with all its controversies.
It is tantamount to a fantasy to believe that India would have relinquished control (and sovereignty) of Pashtun-majority areas in India over which Afghanistan has territorial claims. There is evidence for this statement.
A year before India’s partition, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a tour of the Pashtun tribal belt in northwestern India. In addition to trying to counter Muslim League efforts, Nehru made an attempt to convince tribal Pashtuns to cast their lots with a united India, but to no avail.
Nehru saw in the strategic passes of the Pashtun areas a security insurance in the face of a northern invasion (probably from the Soviet Union). Past these strategic passes and mountains, laid the flat lands of the Punjab and the road to Delhi was open. Under no circumstance Nehru or any other Congress leader would have been prepared to meet Afghanistan’s demands.
According to the British historian Alex Von Tunzelmann, Nehru was not willing to come to terms with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue because of Kashmir’s terrain and strategic mountain passes (see Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of An Empire). After Nehru lost the NWFP in a referendum to Pakistan, he was bent on keeping Kashmir for India.
Consequently, Afghanistan’s relations with an undivided India would have been on a collision course from day one. After losing a greater part of its population and trans-Indus territory to the British in the previous century, Afghanistan would not have been in a position to force India’s hand.
To conceal its weakness vis-à-vis a Hindu-majority India, Afghanistan would have invested in the propaganda machine—exactly what it did against Pakistan. Although the process has been checked lately, stereotyping Hindus is common in many parts of Afghanistan
It is widely believed that Hindus are 'unbelievers' and thus cowards, and that 'one Muslim can overpower seven Hindus'. Another popular example is referring to Hindus as 'mis’keen' (poor), not because they are poor, but because they lack 'imaan'.
Ironically, many of the notorious figures in the eyes of India’s Hindus (especially Hindu extremists) are revered in Afghanistan. For instance, Mahmud of Ghazni and Ahmad Shah Durrani are among a bunch of rulers and invaders who are widely respected for their invasions of India.
Zaheer ud-Din Mohammad Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire, who in his memoirs never hesitates to hide his distaste of India, its food, weather and customs also enjoys some degree of scholarly and popular support, especially among ethnic Uzbeks.
Glorifying these Indophobes’ achievements and demonising Hindus would have been a fertile ground for invoking anti-India sentiments against an undivided India.
Afghanistan’s Pashtun card
Afghanistan could also have instigated Pashtun tribal unrest in an undivided India. From 1893 to 1930 (and to a lesser extent to 1947), Afghanistan provided safe havens and at times weapons to Pashtun guerilla fighters fighting the British in India.
Despite repeated British requests, Afghanistan would refuse to take action against Pashtun tribesmen who entered Afghanistan after attacking British or pro-British elements in India. Afghanistan could have continued to do so, had India not been divided.
In undivided India, like British India, Muslims would have been a minority, and it would have been easier for Afghanistan to incite or encourage violence among the Pashtuns in the name of religion or freedom from unbelievers. After Pakistan’s founding, and given that the Pashtuns either through referendum or tribal jirgas joined the new state, Afghanistan could no longer bank on inciting religious violence.
More importantly and surprisingly, undivided India would have created a big rift between Indian (and later Pakistani) Pashtun nationalist leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a close friend of Gandhi’s and Nehru’s who campaigned for a united India, and Afghanistan.
Today, Khan is widely respected in Afghanistan primarily because of his Pashtun nationalist and anti-Pakistan sentiments. However, had India not been divided, he would have been looked down upon in Afghanistan, because he didn’t want a “greater Afghanistan,” which would include all Pashtun majority areas in Pakistan.
To clarify, there is no recorded statement available that Khan wanted Indian Pashtuns to join Afghanistan. Initially, he wanted a united India. When he failed, he wanted autonomy for the Pashtuns of Pakistan.
Today, his grandson and successor Asfandyar Wali Khan has given up those fantasies and is leader of the mainstream Awami National Party in Pakistan, the main opposition party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Conclusion
One could argue that, based on available historical facts, Afghanistan and India would have had a tense relationship had a united India emerged out of the ashes of the British Raj.
India would have been painted in Afghanistan as a usurper of Pashtun lands. This rhetoric from Afghanistan and India’s response to it would have seriously questioned the basis for any historical relationship arguments.
If anything, Afghanistan and India share conflicting narratives of centuries of invasions and conquests. Afghanistan, however, did have warm relations with India’s Muslims. But a majority of those Muslims today live outside of India, either in Pakistan or in Bangladesh. Those who remain in India are not considered loyal Indians by Hindu extremists anyway, and are subjected to discrimination and harassment from time to time.
The current close state of affairs between India and Afghanistan is mainly due to opposition in both countries to Pakistan—to an extent to the country's existence and to an extent to some of its policies. As soon as the status quo changes in South Asia, we will witness estrangement between Afghanistan and India.