Latest news with #IndianIndependenceActof1947
India.com
15-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
Did you know Reserve Bank of India once printed currency for Pakistan? State Bank of Pakistan acknowledged by..., UAE, Oman also...
Reserve Bank of India New Delhi: The Radcliffe Line refers to the boundary drawn by British lawyer Sir Cyril Radcliffe during the 1947 partition of British India. This line divided the provinces of Punjab and Bengal into two separate territories: India and Pakistan. The partition was a result of the Indian Independence Act of 1947, which aimed to create two independent nations, India and Pakistan, based on religious lines. But did this Radcliffe Line actually provide the resources both countries truly needed? In fact, the British man who drew this line, Radcliffe, had never even visited India. After the partition, Pakistan especially lacked essential resources. In such a situation, it was India that extended full support. Since 1947, India has provided a slew of assistance to bankrupt Pakistan. The Reserve Bank of India even printed currency notes for its neighboring country between August 1947 and September 1948. At the time of Partition, Pakistan had no infrastructure. According to a media report quoting current affairs commentator Aamir Khokhar wrote that Pakistan was unable to establish a central bank. It was then decided that the Reserve Bank would function as the state bank for both India and Pakistan. Since the Reserve Bank already existed in India, it helped Pakistan without any hesitation. State Bank of Pakistan Acknowledged the Role It is important to note that the official website of the State Bank of Pakistan has acknowledged the services of the Reserve Bank of India. In 1947, during the India-Pakistan partition, the Reserve Bank of India acted as the central bank for both countries. Soon after the partition, the Reserve Bank of India took the responsibility of currency circulation since establishing a central bank in Pakistan was not an easy task. According to media reports, the State Bank of Pakistan states that the Governor-General of undivided India issued the 'Pakistan (Monetary System and Reserve Bank) Order, 1947' on 14 August 1947. This order stated that until a central bank was established in Pakistan, the RBI would handle all currency-related matters. Until September 30, 1948, the Reserve Bank was made the common authority for both India and Pakistan. In this way, until 30 September 1948, the RBI fulfilled all of Pakistan's financial needs and managed its monetary system. RBI Printed Notes for These Countries Too The Reserve Bank of India not only printed notes for Pakistan but also for several Gulf countries like the UAE, Oman, and Bahrain. This practice continued until 1967, and until then, the Gulf countries used the Indian Rupee. It is also recorded in the history of the RBI that it printed currency notes for Pakistan for nearly a year. At that time, the Reserve Bank had an office in Lahore, which was later closed down.
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First Post
25-04-2025
- Politics
- First Post
‘No matter what India does, this problem is not going to go away': Former Pakistan envoy on Kashmir issue
For long Pakistan has taken cover of the Kashmir issue to mask its use of terrorism as state policy. After the Pahalgam terror attack, Firstpost spoke to former Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit. Here's what he says read more An Indian paramilitary vehicle escorts tourists after an attack in Pahalgam, about 90kms (55 miles) from Srinagar on April 23, 2025. Source: AFP As India navigates through the devastating Pahalgam attack that led to the death of 26 people, Pakistan's former envoy to India defended his country's policies in what India sees as decades-long streak of fomenting trouble in Jammu and Kashmir through terrorism. In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost, Pakistan's former High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit said the Kashmir issue is at the core of tensions between India and Pakistan and 'whatever India does, this problem is not going to go away'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'In my view, and I have been saying this all along, that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is a core problem between Pakistan and India,' Basit told Firstpost on Thursday. He urged both sides to discuss ways to settle the dispute. 'No matter what India does, this problem is not going to go away. It will continue to be there between Pakistan and India. It is time to think about how to settle this issue rather than ramping up to unnecessary rhetoric, creating more problems between our two countries,' he said. It's ironical that the Kashmir problem between India and Pakistan began with the latter invading Jammu and Kashmir barely two months after Independence in 1947. As a princely state Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession with India as per the provisions of the Indian Independence Act of 1947 that also paved the way for the creation of Pakistan through the partition of India. Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India was held legally valid by the United Nations. Basit assertion of the Kashmir issue remaining a perpetual problem appears to be an oversight of the historical fact, whether deliberate or a compulsion of a former diplomat. Pakistan's former High Comissioner to India Abdul Basit. File Image Basit emphasised that once this issue is settled, Pakistan will live as a normal neighbour to India. The remarks from the former Pakistani envoy came in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that saw India announcing five big measures against Pakistan. In response, Pakistan conducted an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) and announced retaliatory measures. In the press release, which came shortly after Basit's interview with Firstpost, Pakistan announced that it is suspending all bilateral agreements with India, including the Simla Agreement, until 'New Delhi changes its conduct'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Once the dispute is settled, Pakistan will live as normal neighbours': Basit Basit said that the Kashmir dispute needs to be settled before anything else. 'The primary question is whether or not the two countries are willing to move in the direction of settling the Kashmir dispute. All other issues are peripheral in my view. Once this dispute is settled, you will see Pakistan living as normal neighbours and putting their relations on a positive trajectory,' he averred. During the interview, Basit attempted to put forward Pakistan's case in the ongoing diplomatic row. However, he glossed over some facts. When asked how some of the terrorists involved in the deadly attack were Pakistani nationals, Basit said, 'India started blaming Pakistan immediately after the attack or a false flag, I doubt there was any investigation or probe.' When Firstpost mentioned the fact that J&K Police released the identity of three terrorists involved in the attack, out of which two were Pakistanis, Basit dodged the question, saying, 'We do not know. Not a shred of evidence has been shared with anyone.' The Jammu and Kashmir Police has released the sketches of foreigner terrorists Hashim Musa alias Sulaiman and Ali Bhai alias Talha Bhai, and local terrorist Adil Hussain Thokar, believed to be involved in the Pahalgam attack. (Photo: J&K Police) Earlier today, the J&K police shared the names of two Pakistani and one local terrorist involved in the killing. They were: Hashim Musa alias Sulaiman, Ali Bhai alias Talha Bhai, and Adil Hussain Thokar (Local). The police have put a 20 lakh bounty on each of the terrorists. The Kashmir issue has been at the epicentre of India-Pakistan tensions after Pakistan infiltrated the then-princely state of Jammu and Kashmir soon after the partition, leading to an all-out India-Pakistan war of 1947-48. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan has for long denied its role in terrorism in India, despite its top leaders having openly admitted to Islamabad's so-called policy of 'bleeding India through a thousand cuts'. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said in TV interviews that the people who were seen as terrorists by the world were heroes for the establishment. The timing of it all The Pahalgam attack took place while US Vice President The incident drew all the attention from the visit. Interestingly, this is not the first time Pakistan has been accused of orchestrating such attacks during a monumental visit. There have been at least two instances in which terrorists carried out nearly identical attacks that also coincided with the visits of top US officials, one of them included the American president's visit to the country. US Vice President JD Vance receives the ceremonial guard of honour upon his arrival in New Delhi, India, on April 21, 2025. (Photo: X/Ministry of External Affairs) A similar attack took place in Chittisinghpora in J&K back in 2000 when terrorists killed 36 Sikhs in the region. The attack took place on the eve of the then-US President Bill Clinton's visit to India. Two years later, terrorists killed 23 people, including 10 children, in J&K's Jammu while a top State Department official was visiting India. Pakistan-backed terrorist groups were believed to be behind the attacks in both instances. One of the deadliest terror attacks that shook India was the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, also known as 26/11. On the fateful day, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists launched attacks at multiple locations in Mumbai, killing 166 persons in the nearly 60-hour siege. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD While India has called out Pakistan for fostering terrorism whenever the issue has been discussed International level, Islamabad has seen the horrors of several terrorist groups within its soil. This begs the question of how India can sit at a negotiation table with Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute when Pakistan has been time and again accused of fostering terrorist groups, which also jeopardises India's national security.
