NepalPakistan relations:

NepalPakistan relations are the bilateral relations between the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. These relations were fully established between 1962 and 1963, oth nations have since sought to expand trade, strategic and military cooperation.

Background:
Nepal established diplomatic relations with India after the latter's independence in 1947, but did not do so with Pakistan. In 1950, Nepal signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship with India, creating an extensive relationship of economic, strategic and defence cooperation. Nepal thus remained aloof from Pakistan, which was at conflict with India. However, Nepal's resentment of Indian influence perceived to be excessive prompted the Nepalese government to develop relations with the People's Republic of China and Pakistan.

Development of bilateral relations:

Nepal and Pakistan signed a protocol for establishing diplomatic relations in 1962 and exchanged ambassadors and set up embassies in 1963, when Ayub Khan, the President of Pakistan made a special visit to Nepal.Both nations also signed agreements to reciprocate the "Most Favored Nation" status of importance for developing trade and cooperation. In 1963, Pakistan agreed to provide Nepal with free trade access and transport facilities through the port of Chittagong in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and established an air link. This arrangement reduced Nepal's dependence on India for trading privileges. Although Nepal officially maintained neutrality during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, it was one of the first to recognise the independence of Bangladesh. In recent years, both countries began developing military cooperation, with Nepal importing arms from Pakistan. Condemned and isolated from India, Great Britain and the United States between 2004 and 2006 for repressing democracy, the Nepalese monarchy developed military cooperation with China and Pakistan, who offered extensive military support, arms and military equipment to Nepal for the monarchy to stay in power and fight the Maoist insurgency. Both Pakistan and China have provided medium-tech weapons to Nepal.

Bilateral trade:
Despite an extensive 1982 trade agreement, the volume of bilateral trade remains comparatively small at USD 4.8 million. Pakistan's total exports to Nepal are worth USD 1.631 million while Nepal's exports to Pakistan tally USD 3.166 million. Both countries have recently stepped up efforts to promote bilateral trade, especially in textiles, oilseeds, extraction of oil and tourism; Pakistan also offered a USD 5 million line of credit to Nepal. Nepal and Pakistan are signatories to the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) and members of the South Asian Economic Union.

Indo-Pakistani relations:
Indo-Pakistani relations are grounded in the political, geographic, cultural, and economic links between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan the two largest countries of South Asia. The two countries share much of their common geographic location, but differ starkly in religious demographics. India is a secular country with Hindu majority at about 80% of the total population and Muslims being the largest religious minority with about 13% of the population. Pakistan, on the other hand, is an Islamic country with 97% population being Muslim, and only about 1.8% Hindus. Diplomatic relations between the two are defined by the history of the violent partition of British India into these two states, and numerous military conflicts and territorial disputes thereafter. Much of South Asia came under direct control of Great Britain in the late 18th century. The British Raj over the Indian subcontinent lasted for almost 150 years. 95% of the people living in South Asia practised either Hinduism or Islam. The Muslim League, headed by Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, proposed the Two Nation Theory in the early 20th century. According to the theory, Muslims and others shared little in common, and British India should be divided into two separate countries, one for the Muslims and the other for the Hindu majority, which he feared would suppress the Muslim minority. The campaign gained momentum in early 1940s and by the end of World War II, British India's partition looked inevitable. The Partition of India in 1947 created two large countries independent from Britain: Pakistan as two wings in the East and West, separated by India in the middle. Soon after Independence, India and Pakistan established diplomatic relations. Subsequent years were marked by bitter periodic conflict, and the nations went to war four times. The war in 1971 ended in defeat and another partition of Pakistan. The eastern wing split off as a new country named Bangladesh, while the western wing continued as Pakistan. There have been some improvements in relations since the mid-2000s. Most notably, Pakistan released an Indian man accused of being a spy in 2008: he had been detained since 1975. But relations soured slightly after the 2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attacks by an alleged group partially consisting of Pakistani based militants.

Seeds of conflict:
About half a million Muslims and Hindus were killed in communal riots following the partition of British India. Millions of Muslims living in India and Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan emigrated in one of the most colossal transfers of population in the modern era. Both countries accused each other of not providing adequate security to the minorities emigrating through their territory. This served to increase tensions between the newly-born countries. According to the British plan for the partition of British India, all the 680 princely states were allowed to decide which of the two countries to join. With the exception of a few, most of the Muslim-majority princely-states acceded to Pakistan while most of the Hindu-majority princely

states joined India. However, the decisions of some of the princely-states would shape the Pakistan-India relationship considerably, in the years to come.

Some disputes of Pakistan and india :

 Junagadh dispute  Kashmir dispute  Bengal refugee crisis  1971 Bangladesh Liberation War  Afghanistan crisis  Kargil crisis  2007 Samjhauta Express bombings  2008 Mumbai attacks

Agreements, talks, and confidence building measures:

In the following eight years, India voiced increasing concern over Pakistani arms purchases, U.S. military aid to Pakistan, and a clandestine nuclear weapons programme. In an effort to curtail tensions, the two countries formed a joint commission to examine disputes. In December 1988, Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Rajiv Gandhi concluded a pact not to attack each other's nuclear facilities. Agreements on cultural exchanges and civil aviation were also initiated. In 1997, high-level Indo-Pakistan talks resumed after a three-year pause. The Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India met twice and the foreign secretaries conducted three rounds of talks. In June 1997, the foreign secretaries identified eight "outstanding issues" around which continuing talks would be focused. The dispute over the status of Kashmir, (referred by India as Jammu and Kashmir), an issue since Independence, remains the major stumbling block in their dialogue.. In September 1997, the talks broke down over the structure of how to deal with the issues of Kashmir, and peace and security. Pakistan advocated that the issues be treated by separate working groups. India responded that the two issues be taken up along with six others on a simultaneous basis. In May 1998 India, and then Pakistan, conducted nuclear tests. After Manmohan Singh become prime minister of India the Punjab provincial Government declared it would develop Gah, his place of birth, as a model village in his honour and name a school after him. There is also a village in India named Pakistan, despite occasional pressure over the years to change its name the villagers have resisted.

Sporting ties
Cricket and hockey matches between the two (as well as other sports to a lesser degree such as those of the SAARC games) have often been political in nature. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Generah Zia-ul Haq traveled to India for a bout of "cricket diplomacy" to keep India from supporting the Soviets by opening another front. Pervez Musharaff also tried to do the same more than a decade later but to no avail.

Diasporic relations:
Indians and Pakistanis living in the Britain are said to have friendly relations with one another.There are various cities such as Birmingham, Blackburn and Manchester where both communities live alongside each other in peace and harmony. Both Indians and Pakistanis living in the UK fit under the category of British Asian. The UK is also home to the Pakistan & India friendship forum. The MEP Saj Karim is of Pakistani origin. He is a member of the European Parliament Friends of India Group, karim was also responsible for opening up Europe to free trade with India.He has given his full support to the Indian government for a death sentence to be given to Ajmal Kasab, who was involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.