WI the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War ended with Pakistani Victory in the West, Indian victory in the East.

So as everyone knows the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War was a resounding victory for India, they cut their rival Pakistan in half, humiliating them in the process.

But WI the Pakistani's do better in the west and come out of the war losing Bengal, but capturing all of Kashmir and small surrounding areas?

How would this affect both countries in the future?
 
That was what some Pakistani Generals were hoping for, that a capture of Kashmir could make up for a loss of Bangladesh.

But I don't see this happening, yet if Pakistan captures a few small (emphasis on small) areas they could probably annex it and ask Nixon and China to back them up diplomatically. Pretty unlikely, though.
 
One scheme Pakistan might've tried: Around October 1971, pretend to start a full pullout from East Pakistan. But just withdraw armor and AF units. Then establish the best possible defense in and around Dacca, including dummy jets, tanks etc, to make it look as formidable as possible. The object would've been to tie up as much Indian strength in the East as possible while throwing nearly everything Pakistan had at Kashmir.
 
I've seen several timelines with Info-Pakistani conflicts like this where (West) Pakistan ends up taking Kashmir and/or Gujarat as well, but India ends up with Bangladesh. This is like the AH trope in US Civil War timelines where the CSA breaks off but the North is magically "compensated" for its losses by the author with Canadian territory. India would have no incentive to annex solidly muslim-majority Bangladesh, it would be easier to spin off as an independent state.

Would an India-Pakistan conflict have the potential to become a major great power conflict? India has traditionally been friendly with the USSR, and the Sino-Pakistani alliance is a major cornerstone of Pakistani foreign policy.

If an Indo-Soviet entente brings in a friendly government in Kabul, it could plan a joint invasion of Pakistan, followed by the country's division or partition. Bangladesh would be given independence, India would take Kashmir, and the mostly Pashtun Tribal Areas and Northwest frontier province could be given to Afghanistan. The remainder of Pakistan could be left as a demilitarized rump state, or be partitioned into republics of Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan.

An independent Balochistan, combined with a pro-Soviet Afghan regime, could function as a South Yemen 2.0 that gives the USSR a new client state and reliable access to the Indian Ocean region.
 
USSR a new client state and reliable access to the Indian Ocean region.

Now *that* would be interesting. The Indian Ocean might become another region of the Cold War. What will the US do to compensate for the breaking up of Pakistan?
 
Now *that* would be interesting. The Indian Ocean might become another region of the Cold War. What will the US do to compensate for the breaking up of Pakistan?
I assume all of this happens after the Sino-Soviet split, so Chinese-Soviet relations would be much chillier and China would be more diplomatically isolated. India would lack any distractions on its western border preventing it from retaking parts of Kashmir and Aksai Chin occupied by China since 1961.

There may be an earlier opening of relations between China and the US to counter the Soviets. The situations in Korea and Southeast Asia would almost definitely be effected by A) fiercer Sino-Soviet rivalry, B) Chinese-American detente, or C) some combination of both, but I don't know how.

This type of move would cede any image of India as a non-aligned power, and make the Shah much more nervous about his Baloch and Azeri subjects with "liberated" relatives on the other side of the border.

Asia, the Middle East, the US, and the USSR could be drawn into a 1914-style web of interlocking rivalries and alliances.
 
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