WI: No partition of India

Well hopefully none of the Nehru/Gandhi clan get anywhere near the PM's office, but a Congress dominated India would be even more likely wouldn't it?

A Congress incorporating the people who IOTL joined the Muslim League might well be much less Nehru dominated. Perhaps Jinnah as a first PM, followed by Nehru.
 
The disputes with China here could be interesting in the short and long term. I suspect that this India will eventually pursue developing nuclear weapons, perhaps as part of a strategy aimed at China. Assuming that the Indian reorganization into linguistic states still happens, one wonders if states like Haryana would still emerge, or if efforts to establish still more linguistic states that has been seen in our timeline would continue here unabetted.

I do wonder though if this INdia would be better off still excluding Balochistan, the FATA, and Pakhtunkhwa.
 
The disputes with China here could be interesting in the short and long term. I suspect that this India will eventually pursue developing nuclear weapons, perhaps as part of a strategy aimed at China. Assuming that the Indian reorganization into linguistic states still happens, one wonders if states like Haryana would still emerge, or if efforts to establish still more linguistic states that has been seen in our timeline would continue here unabetted.

I do wonder though if this INdia would be better off still excluding Balochistan, the FATA, and Pakhtunkhwa.

Hmm...it could go either way depending on policy decisions. IIRC Haryana was created out of the Hindi as opposed to Punjabi speaking districts of the old Punjab so, yeah, one supposes that if they go for linguistic subdivision (which seems logical) this might still happen.

Also in a united India the Punjab would be massive- probably not as populous as Uttar Pradesh but certainly nearing it.
 
Hmm...it could go either way depending on policy decisions. IIRC Haryana was created out of the Hindi as opposed to Punjabi speaking districts of the old Punjab so, yeah, one supposes that if they go for linguistic subdivision (which seems logical) this might still happen.

Also in a united India the Punjab would be massive- probably not as populous as Uttar Pradesh but certainly nearing it.

Given that there are and have been movements to split up Uttar Pradesh, would there be to split up Punjab (further) too?
 
This is certainly a very interesting possibility that I myself have often wondered about. Off the top of my head, I can already think of several potential butterflies:

1. No Indo-Pakistani wars, as well as no Kashmir conflict.
2. Pakistan would avoid the myriad of military dictatorships that it has been forced to live through and would probably be more developed than IOTL.
3. No war (and debatably, genocide) in Bangladesh.
4. India would have one of the (if not the largest) Muslim populations on Earth.
5. A stronger India and no Pakistan/Bangladesh would change the course and possibly the outcome of the Cold War.
6. With no Pakistan, Islamic terrorism would be much weaker ITTL.
7. India would share borders with Afghanistan and Iran. The border with Afghanistan might make the Soviet Union not invade Afghanistan, as they wouldn't want to threaten India, while the border with Iran could change the outcome of the Iranian revolution. With a successful, democratic state to the East, the Republican faction could come out on top in the Iranian Revolution.
8. India would develop nukes as in OTL, but with no Pakistan, nations like North Korea might not develop any nuclear weapons, since there would be no Pakistani nuclear program.
9. The Indian navy would have greater power projection capabilities than ITTL. With bases in Pakistan, chances are the Indian Navy might have a slight presence in the Persian Gulf.
10. United India would be more developed and more powerful than the India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh of OTL.
 
4. India would have one of the (if not the largest) Muslim populations on Earth.

No doubt on this one: a united India would easily have the largest Muslim population on earth with 450 million plus Muslims (India's 150 million Muslims plus Pakistan and Bangladesh). No country on the planet would even come close (Indonesia would be a couple of hundred million people short).
 
This is certainly a very interesting possibility that I myself have often wondered about. Off the top of my head, I can already think of several potential butterflies:

1. No Indo-Pakistani wars, as well as no Kashmir conflict.
2. Pakistan would avoid the myriad of military dictatorships that it has been forced to live through and would probably be more developed than IOTL.
3. No war (and debatably, genocide) in Bangladesh.
4. India would have one of the (if not the largest) Muslim populations on Earth.
5. A stronger India and no Pakistan/Bangladesh would change the course and possibly the outcome of the Cold War.
6. With no Pakistan, Islamic terrorism would be much weaker ITTL.
7. India would share borders with Afghanistan and Iran. The border with Afghanistan might make the Soviet Union not invade Afghanistan, as they wouldn't want to threaten India, while the border with Iran could change the outcome of the Iranian revolution. With a successful, democratic state to the East, the Republican faction could come out on top in the Iranian Revolution.
8. India would develop nukes as in OTL, but with no Pakistan, nations like North Korea might not develop any nuclear weapons, since there would be no Pakistani nuclear program.
9. The Indian navy would have greater power projection capabilities than ITTL. With bases in Pakistan, chances are the Indian Navy might have a slight presence in the Persian Gulf.
10. United India would be more developed and more powerful than the India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh of OTL.



If India would be better off, would that mean fewer people migrating from India to the United States? This would be America's loss. On the other hand, millions of lives would be saved, etc., et al.
 
I've done some rough guesstimates of what I think this United India would look like. Remember, this isn't accounting for all the unborn generations of children from parents who died in conflicts with Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the economic data is based on the assumption that United India would be about as developed as the P.R. of China is today:

Name: Republic of India
Capital: New Delhi
Population: 1,493,223,514 (#1) :eek:
GDP (PPP): 12.5 Trillion (#2)
GDP (Nominal): 8 Trillion (#2)
Active Military Forces: 2,099,053
Reserve Military Forces: 2,655,821
Paramilitary: 1,668,486
Total Military Forces: 6,423,360
(Once again, I got the totals for the number of Military forces by adding the totals for India-Pakistan-Bangladesh. The armed forces of a United India could be smaller due to the lack of a Pakistani threat, or larger due to India having more global commitments. Take your pick. :p)

Judging by these (very rough) calculations, I believe that if India was united today, it would be (without a doubt), one of the most powerful nations on earth. China and India would be neck-and-neck (albeit with India slightly ahead of China) and the West would become very anxious about the two of them getting involved in an armed conflict with each other. Chances are that, without Pakistan, China would be considered Public Enemy #1 in India.

Some other effects:
India might develop a "Sphere of Influence" comprised of Afghanistan, Iran (?), Bhutan, and Nepal
China and India would both be engaged in a game of one-upmanship in S.E. Asia. (Especially in Burma/Myanmar)
The Indian navy would be larger than IOTL
With a larger Indian navy, capable of greater power-projection, Somali Pirates might not be as much of a threat
China and India might have several "near-misses" over Tibet
India might become even more paranoid over the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, fearing that China is trying to use Nepal as a client or establish a Puppet in India's sphere of influence
The U.S. might do more trade with Democratic(?) India than Communist China
If China is India's primary enemy (as opposed to Pakistan), India might warm up to the US after China and Russia grow closer following the collapse of the USSR. This could mean we'd see F-16's and other American hardware in the Indian arsenal (Either that or India would have a home-grown arms industry :D)
Indian Culture and Cuisine might see levels of popularity not seen since the 1960's
With more political stability and a higher standard of living on the subcontinent, there would likely be fewer Indian expats living around the globe, as they would likely stay in India
We might know more about ancient India than we do today, as a peaceful environment is more conducive to archaeology and anthropology
 
Definitely an interesting scenario.

Would India be a nuclear power today? I still tend to think so, given relations with China.

Burma (Myanmar) might be a sort of proxy war with China.

I wonder if India would be more interventionist in Sri Lanka.

Many more parts of *India would be useful for growing Opium, which itself would have effects.

Muslim radicals wouldn't be funded by Pakistan, but there may still be a source of funding from the Gulf/Saudi.

...and a border with Iran creates many interesting possibilities.

You have a sport involving grasshoppers?? :eek::p

Now you're just making a silly point.:D

Regards

R
 
Definitely an interesting scenario.

Would India be a nuclear power today? I still tend to think so, given relations with China.

Burma (Myanmar) might be a sort of proxy war with China.

I wonder if India would be more interventionist in Sri Lanka.

Many more parts of *India would be useful for growing Opium, which itself would have effects.

Muslim radicals wouldn't be funded by Pakistan, but there may still be a source of funding from the Gulf/Saudi.

...and a border with Iran creates many interesting possibilities.



Now you're just making a silly point.:D

Regards

R

Why a proxy war with China in Burma? Why a proxy war at all? Jockeying for influence, yes, that's why IOTL the Chinese are getting berthing rights in Sri Lanka while the Indian Navy is very active in cooperating with Vietnam and getting berthing rights in Singapore and Vietnam.
 
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