Whenever Army chiefs in Pakistan with a strident anti-India posture have precipitated conflict with India, the fallout has been severe on the Pakistani people, not to mention the steep downward spiral in bilateral relations. At every juncture in the past, when democratic institutions and Pakistan’s civil society have attempted to seek a dialogue with India, ambitious Generals have usurped power and deepened the India-Pakistan divide.

General Ayub Khan started the rot by initiating the 1965 war with India, and his protégé General Yahya Khan took his legacy forward by precipitating the 1971 crisis that dismembered Pakistan and left its military nursing the humiliation of a military defeat. From that humiliation arose the ambitions of General Zia-Ul-Haq, who oversaw the next phase of Pakistan’s descent into chaos.

Read the full story here

When Pakistan Army plays with fire

Analysis of Pakistan’s history with ambitious Army chiefs and their impact on India-Pakistan relations, by military historian Arjun Subramaniam.