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Resolved, the United States deploy a peacekeeping force to the Indian-Pakistani border
Friday, 09 January 2009
Any conflict between India and Pakistan would destabilize not only regional, but global affairs. Both powers have nuclear weapons and both powers have a network of allies that would be obligated to choose a side in the event of war. Hostility between these two nations would throw off the world balance, with religious and geographical contempt being potential catalysts for nuclear war. In the interests of peace, tolerance, and humanity, it is imperative that India and Pakistan maintain a peaceful, harmonious association with one another.

Introduction Continued

     After the British left India in 1947; the country was split on the basis of religion, into India and Pakistan. The Muslims were sent north to Pakistan, while Hindus remained in India. The conflicts over territory have continued ever since. 
     The India-Pakistan wars include 1965's Second Kashmiri war and the Kargil War. In the 1965 War, Pakistan attempted to annex the Indian territories, Jammu and Kashmir, but failed after a five-week period of firing and thousands of deaths. The UN Security Council stepped in and declared a ceasefire. 
     The Kargil War of 1999 began when military chief of Pakistan Pervez Musharaff invaded Kargil in Kashmir and occupied the mountain range. The Indian air force and army attacked the Pakistani invaders and eventually won back their territory. The United States' Clinton Administration played a key role in influencing Pakistan to pull back her forces. However, the India-Pakistan quarrel continues to this date.
     After Pakistan's Marriott Hotel Bombing in September 2008 and India's Taj Hotel Bombing on November 26 of the same year, foreign policy experts say that India and Pakistan have experienced their own 9/11s, and the United States must ally herself with these nations to fight terror. Furthermore, the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir distracts the two developing nations' attention from the pressing issue of global radical terrorism that must be controlled. Some experts propose that the United States should help both republics settle their differences so they can join the U.S. in fighting terror.

 

Pro Considerations:

     Proponents argue that the India-Pakistan conflict affects the United States to a great extent. While both nations' governments fight their individual wars against these terrorists, the India-Pakistan animosity, which has been extant since 1947, creates a great deal of turmoil especially in the Kashmir area, where terrorists can easily congregate. The United States must prevent the India-Pakistan conflict, so that all three nations can work together. The only effective way to achieve this is to hold series of summits while at the same time keeping the combatants separated. Only by recognizing how detrimental the India-Pakistan animosity is for fighting terror, can the United States hope to remain friendly with these nations while fighting terrorists beside them.

  1. After the Taj Mahal Hotel rampage, peacekeepers are necessary to prevent tension from developing into tragedy.
  2. India and Pakistan are both nations that possess nuclear weapons and both are capable of using them against one another. Such a catastrophic event would not be in the global interest and a buffer zone of peacekeepers would help keep tensions under wraps.
  3. A stronger relationship between the United States, Pakistan, and India would aid the global fight against terror.
  4. To prevent future conflict, a Kashmiri territorial settlement must be reached.
  5. Global peace and global trade is reliant on the world community's ability to communicate and cooperate. Keeping the two armed forces apart will allow both sides to begin the process of negotiations. 

Con Considerations:

    Opponents argue that the United States has no business interfering in the affairs of these two developing nations. Furthermore, the US does not have money to spend on Pakistan and India, and this force would most likely raise tensions rather than easing them. In fact, both India and Pakistan's major newspapers have stated that the South Asian people would prefer to solve their own independent problem. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told US officials, that the United States should stay away from Pakistan's military affairs. Indian Newspapers and Pakistani envoys to India agree that the United States help is unwanted. Opponents of this resolution maintain that the issue remains that the United States tends to display bias toward one nation or the other. During the Clinton Administration, India was favored in the Kargil War, but as the Bush Administration comes to an end, we see how many more billions of dollars the US has funded Pakistan than India in her war against terror. Our help is unwanted, biased, and futile; the US simply has no place in the region.

 

  1. The United States should remain out of regional conflicts between two allies.
  2. America must concentrate on its own domestic problems, not India or Pakistan's.
  3. A peacekeeping force would most likely require massive amounts of American military aid, aid that America can not afford to give.
  4. The India-Pakistan crisis is rooted in centuries-old religious hatred. There is little the United States can do to solve the crisis and will most likely inflame tensions.
  5. If both sides were willing to find a solution, they would be instigating such talks themselves, without United States assistance or interference.
 

 

 Sources and Addtional Reading

 

TIME WORLD
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1865957,00.html

THAINDIAN NEWS
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/us-help-not-needed-to-talk-to-india-pakistan-envoy_10040157.html

REUTERS
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4AO3QV20081125

http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINISL16434320090103

BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1157960.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1154019.stm

NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/world/asia/29india.html?_r=1

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/asia/27pstan.html

 

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