Pappa Alpha
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It's alternate history time!
In this alternate history scenario, we are going to assume what the region and the world in general might have looked like if South Asia was dominated by a United India. For this scenario to make sense we would have to make some assumptions. The key assumption would be that the major religious groups don't hold enmities against each other and the major ones don't hold ambitions to dominate the other ones. Keep in mind that this scenario is based on my assumptions and changing one historical event can cause several alternate routes in history. For this post we will assume that things work out rather well for the United Indian States (UIS). Please forgive me for any actual historical inaccuracies.
So, our first assumption would be that Jinnah remains in Indian National Congress as he doesn't feel the need to distance himself from the party based on the key assumption mentioned above. All India Muslim League is still a popular party for center right winged Muslims but without advocating Pan-Islamism and Two-nation theory (in mainstream at least). The demand for freedom from British colonialism is lead by major political parties in the first half of the twentieth century but no popular demand for a separate independent Muslim country exists (sorry folks, but no Minar-e-Pakistan).
It is possible (but unlikely) that the British grant independence to UIS a bit earlier than WWII since they would have faced a united and stronger freedom movement. In any case the UIS gains independence in the later first half of the twentieth century (flag might have been different?). The UIS stretches from modern day Pakistan to the West Bengal and also has many autonomous princely states whose foreign policy and defense is under UIS federal government. Kashmir issue doesn't exist and UIS is smart enough to solve its territorial disputes with China in the 1950s through negotiations. The only border issue for UIS is for the Durand Line but more on that later. Sri Lanka and Nepal don't joint the UIS. Now that the basic premise is set, we can look at some of the events of the second half of the twentieth century in this alternate history scenario.
Since there is no immediate threat of war after independence as the world is still recovering from WWII, the UIS can spend the first couple of decades on its own development. Lower defense budget means more money to spend on human resource development. Corruption is high in some states but the autonomous regions fare better in this regard. UIS is an industrial mammoth and if it uses its potential effectively it can create automotive and tech companies in the 1970s and 1980s to rival Japan. The manufacturing cost in UIS would steadily rise as the standard of living increases so, these companies start shifting their factories to China. The brain drain would also be lower as most UIS citizens would prefer to stay in their home country.
The UIS would start transforming from a soft giant to a major world player around late 1970s. The Cold War would still happen between US/NATO and USSR. UIS remains officially neutral but is more aligned towards US/NATO due to similar nature of governance. Soviet-Afgan War is unlikely to happen as the UIS would strongly oppose USSR's direct involvement into it's neighbor. This means no Afghan Mujahideen and Talibaan. Without the Soviet-Afghan War, the USSR squeezes out at least a decade more for its existence but ultimately it collapses.The UIS would probably fence the Durand Line and guard the border with Afghanistan. The other borders would have been relatively safe so major border force would be present along the Durand Line.
As mentioned before, due to lower brain drain the UIS establishes a domestic defense industry and is not dependent on anyone for its defense needs. It also has an excellent space program rivaling that of USA/NATO and Russia. The naval strength of UIS is also quite formidable and it has huge influence over major shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. Due to its global influence UIS also has veto power in UNSC. After the fall of USSR, a new Cold War soon starts between USA and UIS. China is either on UIS's side or is neutral (more likely). So, in our present day we (UIS citizens) would be in a Cold War with USA.
To conclude, UIS is a major player in the present world locked in a Cold War with USA with China happily watching from the backdrop. It would be like USA of the East. Although like USA chances of a civil war were high in its early days but UIS overcame those obstacles and is now a global power. Thank you for reading the article. I might do a few more alternate history scenarios in the future. Take care!
PA
In this alternate history scenario, we are going to assume what the region and the world in general might have looked like if South Asia was dominated by a United India. For this scenario to make sense we would have to make some assumptions. The key assumption would be that the major religious groups don't hold enmities against each other and the major ones don't hold ambitions to dominate the other ones. Keep in mind that this scenario is based on my assumptions and changing one historical event can cause several alternate routes in history. For this post we will assume that things work out rather well for the United Indian States (UIS). Please forgive me for any actual historical inaccuracies.
So, our first assumption would be that Jinnah remains in Indian National Congress as he doesn't feel the need to distance himself from the party based on the key assumption mentioned above. All India Muslim League is still a popular party for center right winged Muslims but without advocating Pan-Islamism and Two-nation theory (in mainstream at least). The demand for freedom from British colonialism is lead by major political parties in the first half of the twentieth century but no popular demand for a separate independent Muslim country exists (sorry folks, but no Minar-e-Pakistan).
It is possible (but unlikely) that the British grant independence to UIS a bit earlier than WWII since they would have faced a united and stronger freedom movement. In any case the UIS gains independence in the later first half of the twentieth century (flag might have been different?). The UIS stretches from modern day Pakistan to the West Bengal and also has many autonomous princely states whose foreign policy and defense is under UIS federal government. Kashmir issue doesn't exist and UIS is smart enough to solve its territorial disputes with China in the 1950s through negotiations. The only border issue for UIS is for the Durand Line but more on that later. Sri Lanka and Nepal don't joint the UIS. Now that the basic premise is set, we can look at some of the events of the second half of the twentieth century in this alternate history scenario.
Since there is no immediate threat of war after independence as the world is still recovering from WWII, the UIS can spend the first couple of decades on its own development. Lower defense budget means more money to spend on human resource development. Corruption is high in some states but the autonomous regions fare better in this regard. UIS is an industrial mammoth and if it uses its potential effectively it can create automotive and tech companies in the 1970s and 1980s to rival Japan. The manufacturing cost in UIS would steadily rise as the standard of living increases so, these companies start shifting their factories to China. The brain drain would also be lower as most UIS citizens would prefer to stay in their home country.
The UIS would start transforming from a soft giant to a major world player around late 1970s. The Cold War would still happen between US/NATO and USSR. UIS remains officially neutral but is more aligned towards US/NATO due to similar nature of governance. Soviet-Afgan War is unlikely to happen as the UIS would strongly oppose USSR's direct involvement into it's neighbor. This means no Afghan Mujahideen and Talibaan. Without the Soviet-Afghan War, the USSR squeezes out at least a decade more for its existence but ultimately it collapses.The UIS would probably fence the Durand Line and guard the border with Afghanistan. The other borders would have been relatively safe so major border force would be present along the Durand Line.
As mentioned before, due to lower brain drain the UIS establishes a domestic defense industry and is not dependent on anyone for its defense needs. It also has an excellent space program rivaling that of USA/NATO and Russia. The naval strength of UIS is also quite formidable and it has huge influence over major shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. Due to its global influence UIS also has veto power in UNSC. After the fall of USSR, a new Cold War soon starts between USA and UIS. China is either on UIS's side or is neutral (more likely). So, in our present day we (UIS citizens) would be in a Cold War with USA.
To conclude, UIS is a major player in the present world locked in a Cold War with USA with China happily watching from the backdrop. It would be like USA of the East. Although like USA chances of a civil war were high in its early days but UIS overcame those obstacles and is now a global power. Thank you for reading the article. I might do a few more alternate history scenarios in the future. Take care!
PA
, why didn't they build stupas and worshipped lord Buddha?
