Strategic Culture of India and Pakistan and its implications for Strategic Stability

Abstract

This paper examines the strategic cultures of India and Pakistan, their development through time, and their relative effects on South Asia’s strategic stability. It explains the distinctive components that make up each nation’s strategic culture, influenced by historical events, political processes, national identities, and geopolitical circumstances, via in-depth research. The research highlights essential contrasts in the strategic cultures of Pakistan and India and attributes these differences to the divergence in their distinct national trajectories and political evolutions. The historical non-alignment, democratic ethos, economic objectives, and geopolitical factors are used to examine the Indian strategic culture. The paper also considers how these different strategic cultures affect the intricate connection between these nuclear-armed neighbors by building on this basis. It broadens the discussion to consider how Pakistani and Indian strategic cultures may affect South Asia’s regional stability. The research highlights strategic cultures’ crucial role in determining regional dynamics and interstate interactions.