India is the second-most populous country on the planet shares its land boundary with 9 different neighboring countries, Pakistan which lies in the north or north-west, shares not only land boundary but has a very close link with the history of our nation. India and Pakistan share linguistic, cultural, geographic, and economic links although the relationship between these two countries is mired in complexity due to several historical and political events. Relations between the two states have been defined by the violent partition of British India in 1947 which started the Kashmir conflict, and the numerous military conflicts fought between the two nations. Ever since post-partition India became a secular nation with a Hindu majority population and a large Muslim minority, while Pakistan emerged as an Islamic republic with an overwhelming Muslim majority population and a very small population subscribing to other faiths. Consequently, the relationship has been plagued by hostility and suspicion. The relations nose-dived further following the abrogation of Article 370 of India’s Constitution in August 2019 that revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan also snapped all air and land links with India and suspended trade and railway services. The year 2020 saw the periodic war of words over the issue of Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism.
Over the past 12 months, Pakistan made several futile attempts to raise the Kashmir issue at the international forums and drum up support against India. New Delhi has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter.
Pakistan in its word war maligned India for circulating fictional and fabricated dossiers and purveying a regular stream of fake news, to which Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs responded India as a democracy does not promote disinformation campaigns. He also added, “If you are looking for the best example of fictional information and fabricated dossiers which also excels in purveying a regular stream of fake news is the country next door”.
