Firstly, I don't claim to be an expert in the region. This is what my government officially says to people considering travelling to the area
Smartraveller.gov.au -
India
Smartraveller.gov.au -
Pakistan
To my detriment, I know much more about India than I do about Pakistan, mainly because I nearly studied there. That said in terms of ancient history I'm much more aware of the Indus Valley civilization than anything else, which I understand was predominately what is now Pakistan.
I don't really have a problem with the political setup as stipulated in the constitutions. I don't like that high offices in Pakistan are restricted to someone of a particular religion, but purely from a systemic view, conceptually at least, pretty good.
I love the cuisines of both countries, I think I've stated my love of Indian cuisine previously, I particularly like the fusion of Pakistani and Chinese food which has developed, that's awesome.
I particularly love the architecture of both countries.
I don't know much about culture aside from the very isolated exposure to Bollywood and the bits and pieces you pick up from places like here where your interacting with people, the news etc.
All that said, I probably wouldn't travel to either country yet, unless it was for work or something like that because of the poor treatment of women and children although I think this is slowly improving and hope that it changes enough. I think fixing that problem is the biggest issue for both countries, but progress of a sort is still progress!
Then there is Kashmir, I really don't know enough about the issue to comment too much. I remember as a kid I thought 'why not just turn it into the independent cricket capital of the world' to my 10 year old self it sounded perfect, there's a territory between India, Pakistan, the one thing that unites them is cricket, lets turn it into a cricketing paradise! Of course I didn't realise the nuances of history, the role of china etc etc, the naivety of youth...
As for rivalry, there rivalry in the sense of 'The x team is crap and we are so much better' and in the sense of 'I have nuclear weapons and so do you'. In the sporting sense in theory I'm all for it (and I give the NZ'ers enough crap) but it is becoming a bit of an issue world wide. Arguably because of the decrease in a sense of national patriotism, particularly in the west, alot of that passion has transferred into sporting teams and it means that rivalries are becoming more and more dangerous (most publicly you see it in soccer) and this is an issue that we all face. 99% of the time though rivalry is a healthy and fun thing.
Ill just duck for cover now
