The First Indo-Pakistani War, 1947-48

Abstract

The confrontation between British India's two successor states, Pakistan and India dates from the first day of independence. They fought their first war over the possession of Jammu and Kashmir. The war was a limited affair – limited in its goals, over a limited theater, with limited means. It was the first modern war in which one of the belligerents (Pakistan) relied on an artificially created and nurtured insurgency in the target area to realize its political goals. The experiment – partly due to lack of doctrinal foundations and lack of experience – had only limited success, but its results encouraged Pakistan to rely on insurgents and irregular militias in the enemy's rear in it later wars.