Recounting 1965: War, Diplomacy and Great Games in the Subcontinent

‘Stalemate’, ‘futile’, ‘forgotten’—the descriptions of the 1965 War between India and Pakistan often do injustice to its profound Impact on the history of the Indian subcontinent. It was a war that altered the fates of India and Pakistan both politically and militarily, and officially began the new great game for Asia. For India, it was a test of leadership post Nehru and banishing the demons of 1962. For Pakistan, it was about Kashmir and testing India, playing roulette with the superpowers, and sealing its friendship with China. Fifty years on, this article attempts to understand the myriad motivations of this war and focuses on the political conversations and intense diplomatic manoeuvring that New Delhi undertook to emerge on the right side of history. Approached from an oral history perspective, conversations have been pieced both from India and Pakistan, to study the flash-points of a war, often underscored in its importance in the annals of history.