Transforming the Line of Control: Bringing the “Homeland” Back In

The majority of existing research on the I ndo‐ P akistani conflict has shown that this conflict persists due to the confronting actors' long‐term incompatibility in goals and their use of realpolitik conceptions to resolve their core issue— K ashmir. While most of this research is focused on the dynamics of already established realpolitik scholarship, less is known about how it contributed to make this dyad exceedingly dangerous in the post–Cold War era. The present effort attempts to account for the “action‐reaction conundrum” by illuminating how the traditional realist practices are performing contrary to their security maximization objectives in the India‐Pakistan rivalry. In order to bring the two states out of their prolonged security dilemma, what is needed is a way forward through the transformation of the Line of Control on the basis of an approach that combines the Westphalian state and an alternative paradigm. This article concludes by discussing the steps required to move in this direction, that is, toward Indo‐Pakistani coexistence and a progressive future for South Asia more generally.