September marks the 50th anniversary of the seventeen-day war fought between India and Pakistan. The 1965 war involved nearly one million troops and ended in a ceasefire brokered by the Soviet Union. The United States played an important role in the struggle, cutting off military supplies to both sides and participating in diplomatic negotiations to end the conflict.
Pakistan and India currently have two of the largest armies in Asia and each country possesses an estimated nuclear arsenal of at least 100 weapons. The India-Pakistan border remains a frequent site of violence and many of the issues that triggered the 1965 war persist today. The stability of South Asia, a region critical to American foreign policy interests, rests on the tenuous peace between these two countries, with the potential remaining for both future conflict and conciliatory resolutions.
On September 9th, Hudson Institute hosted a panel discussion on the causes and impact of the 1965 war and what has and has not changed in India-Pakistan relations over the last 50 years. The discussion also addressed how U.S. involvement in the conflict influenced both Indian and Pakistani views of U.S. foreign policy. The distinguished panel featured Dr. Stephen Cohen, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution's India Project; Mr. Shuja Nawaz, Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center; and Col. John Gill (Ret.), Associate Professor at the Near East-South Asia Center at the National Defense University. The panel was moderated by Hudson's Senior Fellow and Director of South and Central Asia, Ambassador Husain Haqqani.
Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellows Michael Doran and Ludovic Hood, Research Fellow Zineb Riboua, and Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, for a timely discussion about the conflicts in the region and America’s strategic and diplomatic paths forward.
Join Senior Fellow Dr. Rebeccah Heinrichs and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) for a fireside discussion on how Congress can guide American strategy, the need to modernize the defense industrial base, and the vital role of allies and partners in an unstable international environment.
Join Senior Fellow Michael Doran for a candid conversation with H.E. Narek Mkrtchyan, ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States of America, as they discuss the developments, challenges, and opportunities defining the US-Armenia relationship.
Please join Hudson Institute’s China Center as Miles Yu hosts a panel with key members of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan and the Democratic Progressive Party to examine Taiwan’s mobilization efforts against the CCP’s increasing threats.
