Pakistani policy towards India

The grand strategy of Pakistan towards India dominates all aspects of its foreign policy, including Pakistani policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistani policy towards the U.S.. One must never forget that these two states have fought several wars, and now face one another with nuclear weapons. Western concerns with terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan are secondary to this balance of power. Note that Kashmir provides a path for operations in and out of India. By going through Pakistan's northern area, bases in Afghanistan become a sanctuary for Pakistani-approved operations in Kashmir. The availability of such bases was long a goal of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence.

Pakistan has been a client of both China and the United States, both nations doing so, in part, to balance the client relationship between Russia and China. The Russo-Chinese relationship, with the continued growth of the Indian economy and decline in Russia, approaches equality in many strategic areas.

Major wars
There have been three major wars between India and Pakistan:
 * 1947-1949 and 1965 over control of Jammu and Kashmir
 * 1971 overflow of a Pakistani civil war, leading to the breakaway of the discontiguous province of East Pakistan into the independent country of Bangladesh