India Vs Pak: at birth, and now A shared historical legacy has led India and Pakistan more into strife than any cohesion-26/07/2011.

By Jyothi Raghuram, India Syndicate, 26/07/2011

India Vs Pak: at birth, and now

A shared historical legacy has led India and Pakistan more into strife than any cohesion.

India Vs Pak: at birth, and now(GOOD WISHES AND WELCOME TO HEENAJI AND HER COLLEAUGES IN OUR COUNTRY.I HOPE THEY WILL ENJOY OUR HOSPITALITY AS "AATHITHI DEVO BHAV IS MOOL-MANTRA OF OUR CULTURE"....I HOPE THEY'RE HERE TO FIND THE SOLUTIONS OF OUR YEARS OLD PROBLEMS WITHOUT ANY PREJUDICES.I HOPE SEPARATISTS WHO'RE GETTING UNDUE IMPORTANCE BECAUSE OF J AND K SHOULD SHOULD THINK ABOUT COUNTRY FIRST....AND MR OMAR ABDULLAH AND HIS GOVERNMENT MEMBERS NEED TO BE CONSULTED IN THIS SOLUTIONFINDING PROCESS SIMULTANEOUSLY.WE ALL HAVE HOPES THAT "THIS OPERATION FOR HEALING PENDING DISPUTES AND PROBLEMS AND FINDING SOLUTIONS FOR FUTURE WILL BE IN RIGHT TRACK AND SUCCESSFUL"....GOOD WISHES TO OUR COUNTRYMEN...BE POSITIVE,KEEP HIGH HOPES,MUST MEET 24/11 AND 13/7 ATTACKS VICTIMS AS WELL AND COMBAT TERRORISM FROM THE ROOTS/AND MUST PUNISH TERRORISTS ATTACKERS....."...VIBHA TAILANG

It is not merely a history of centuries that India and Pakistan share. Culture, language and geography also links them, although both countries view this shared heritage differently. If religion defined the national identity of Pakistan during partition, the same has continued as a national philosophy over the decades.

What is known as Indian civilization is as much a legacy of Pakistan, but it is only Mughal history that it acknowledges as its own. And it is this difference in perception that has damaged the psyche of the two nations.

The partition of the two countries, one of the bloodiest in human history, marked the migration and death of millions across the subcontinent. It is also a story of one of the most contrasting developments of two neighboring nations, both of whom began with little political experience at governance, empty coffers, and wounded societies.

Pakistan today is the hub of terrorism, a "failed state", while India is considered an emerging economic superpower. Historically, India was never a cohesive whole, so the concept of a nation was more geographical at birth. India had to carry religious minorities along, whereas Pakistan was created and built around an Islamic identity.

A look at the socio-economic scenario of India and Pakistan in 1947 and the situation now, reveals a chasm that is as much economic as it is political.

Next page: The growth graph of India and Pakistan on major fronts

India Vs Pak: at birth, and now
ECONOMY INDIA PAKISTAN
GDP(purchasing power parity) $4060 billion (2010 (est.) $464.9 billion (2010 est.)
GDP(real growth rate) 10.4 % (2010 est.) 4.8 % (2010 est.)
GDP -per capita (PPP) $3,500 (2010 est.) $2,500 (2010 est.)
Unemployment rate 10.8 % (2010 est.) 15 % (2010 est.)
Population below poverty line 25 % (2007 est. 2007) 24 % (FY05/06 est.)
Budget revenues $170.7 billion (2010 est.) $25.33 billion
Budget expenditures $268 billion (2010 est.) $36.24 billion (2010 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 11.7 % (2010 est.) 13.4 % (2010 est.)


India's booming economy contrasts with Pakistan's instability. India's economic growth rate has averaged over seven 7 per cent since 1997. The country is a major exporter of information technology services and software professionals. The Indian economy bounced back from the world financial crisis, thanks to its domestic demand.

The political unrest in Pakistan has led its economy to the brink of bankruptcy. Economic instability has in turn depreciated the Pakistani rupee. Much of Pakistan's export earnings is from the textile sector. Rising inflation, and poor investment in healthcare, education and the power sector, besides dependence on foreign aid are the major concerns.

Next page: Social indices

India Vs Pak: at birth, and now

India is expected to become the world's most populous country by 2025, with its population crossing 1.6 billion. It will also continue to be the youngest country -- the average Indian will be 29 years of age by2020. Pakistan will surpass Indonesia as the world's largest Muslim country by 2030.
POPULATION INDIA PAKISTAN
1947 361 million 76 million
2011 1.21 billion 187 million
Birth rate (2009) 2.62 3.17
Infant mortality rate (2009) 47.27 deaths/1,000 live births 63.26 deaths/1000 live births
Sex ratio (2009) at birth 1.12 male/female 1.05 male/female
Sex ratio (2009) at 15-64 years: 1.06 male/female 1.05 males/female
Adult female-male ratio 914:1000 925:1000
Fertility rate 2.68 (2010) 3.58 (2008)

Next page: Indo-Pak military

India Vs Pak: at birth, and now

Indo-Pak military: Arms race in the subcontinent

The defence history of India goes back millennia, as does its maritime history.
India has consistently refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It has however a no-first-use policy of nuclear weapons. India's 2008 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreement makes it the only non-NPT nuclear weapons country that can do nuclear business with the rest of the world.

Pakistan is the only Muslim-majority country to possess nuclear weapons. A close non-NATO ally of the US, it finds a friend in China for its arms build-up and know-how. The Pakistan armed forces is the seventh largest in the world.
INDIA PAKISTAN
Military expenditure GDP 1.8 % 3.00 (2007)
Total defence budget 2011 Rs 1,64,415 crore Rs 325900 crores
Major ports 9 2
Main battle tanks 3000 1000
Artillery units 1000 2500
Fighter aircraft 500 300
Support aircraft 250 50 special mission aircraft
Naval fleet 173 11 combat ships
Aircraft carrier 1
Nuclear submarine 1 8 submarines
Nuclear weapons 100-120 100-11-
Available military power 556,075,946 75,807,598

Next page: Low literacy rates run parallel to poverty and ignorance

India Vs Pak: at birth, and now

Low literacy rates run parallel to poverty and ignorance

Family planning programmes have been unsuccessful in both countries due largely to illiteracy particularly among women
LITERACY INDIA PAKISTAN
Total literacy rate (in percentage) 74 %# 58 % *
Female 65.46 %# 45 % *
Male 82.14 % # 69 % *

# Indian Census 2011
* Pakistan Millenium Development Report 2010)

The literacy rate in India was just 12 per cent in 1947. Kerala has the highest literacy rate of 93 per cent. India has the largest illiterate population anywhere in the world.

Low literacy rates in Pakistan have had a negative impact on family planning. Coupled with the political unrest, it has retarded the country's socio-economic progress.

Next page: Lop-sided education systems

India Vs Pak: at birth, and now

Lop-sided education systems

Despite being heavily loaded against the girl child, higher education in India has thrown up women professionals and added substantially to the country's work force
EDUCATION INDIA PAKISTAN
Primary schools(2007) 6,88,000 1,56,592
Secondary schools 1,10,000 3,20,611
Central universities 42 NA
State universities 274 128
Deemed universities 100 NA
Expenses on education 4.1 % of GDP 2.8 % of GDP(2009) -- World Bank
Technical and vocational institutes 3125 NA

*NA: Not Available

Institutes of higher learning in India have received much impetus, whereas schooling is yet to be recognized as crucial to inclusive and balanced growth.

The Pakistan government is actively into promoting technical and vocational training institutes as one of the avenues to tackle unemployment in the country.

Next page: Celestial forays

India Vs Pak: at birth, and now

Celestial forays

India's space programmes have been acknowledged as meant for peaceful purposes
SPACE PROGRAMMES INDIA PAKISTAN
No. of satellites launched 50 NA
Space mission (moon) Chandrayaan I NA
Major satellite system (for communication services) INSAT NA
Major satellite system (for natural resource management) IRS NA
Launch vehicles for IRS PSLV NA
Launch vehicles for INSAT GSLV NA
Indigenously developed satellite system INSAT BADR

The Indian Space Research Organization -ISRO-- is the nucleus of India's space programmes. It began working towards developing its own launch vehicles, necessitated by geopolitical and economic compulsions. The lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, entered the lunar orbit without a hitch, in 2008. Unmanned missions to Mars and to celestial bodies such as comets and asteroids nearer earth, are on the anvil. The IRS enjoys the status of the largest body of remote sensing satellites put to civilian use anywhere in the world.

Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission -SUPARCO -- launched Badr-A from the Xichang Launch Center, China, in 1990. BADR-B, an Earth Observation Satellite, followed suit in 2001, from the Zenit 2 rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The mission aims to launch the high-resolution Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSSS).

Source: India Syndicate