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Article: The Cold War on the Periphery: The United States, India, and Pakistan.
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- March 22, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When India and Pakistan gained independence, the subcontinent seemed unlikely to become a theater in the Cold War. Officials in Washington noted that the absence of industry, skilled workers, military bases, and raw materials placed both countries on the periphery of U.S. interests, a category including large parts of Africa and Asia but meriting little official attention. A sticky border dispute over Kashmir provided good reasons for allowing Britain to remain the region's outside arbiter. Yet in a little over fifteen years, the United States became the chief supplier of weapons and economic aid to the area, Pakistan's military ally, and, in the eyes of both sides, the ...