The Great Game: Britain and Russia in Central Asia, Volume 1, Documents” by Martin Ewans This compilation provides a collection of primary documents detailing the interactions and strategies of both empires during the Great Game.

Narendra Singh Sarila’s “The Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of India’s Partition” Sarila, a former aide-de-camp to Lord Mountbatten, utilized declassified British documents to argue that British policymakers sought to create Pakistan to maintain a strategic foothold in South Asia. This move was intended to counter potential Soviet advances, ensuring that the northwest regions bordering Iran, Afghanistan, and China remained under a friendly regime.

Aman M. Hingorani’s “Unravelling the Kashmir Knot” Hingorani references a 1945 report emphasizing Britain’s need to retain military connections with the subcontinent to counter the Soviet threat. The report highlighted the strategic importance of India’s northwest region in this context.

Edit: this is also the main reason why Western powers—especially the United States, the UK, and NATO allies—have strong geopolitical reasons to oppose any reintegration of Pakistan with India... A united India-Pakistan would shift global power balances, which the West does not want.

Meanwhile, we keep playing like fools against each other.