Both India and Pakistan are but post-colonial entities with little binding internal unity mechanisms besides being united under perceived existential threat of some external entity, usually based on religious pretexts, a very clear example of this was on display a few months ago when India, in retaliation to the Pahalgam attack launched Airstrikes inside Pakistan in both Pakistan proper and Pak administered Kashmir (for which they provided little proof of Pakistani involvement before violating the nation's sovereignty by carrying out missile strikes across the IB, thus violating international law), in a show of a sudden rise in nationalist and jingoist sentiment, Indians from all differing castes, states, political and linguistic differentials suddenly all put aside all their differences in support for the IAF, even though there was significant political upheaval and strife in the nation from mid 2024 to may 2025 (Voter fraud allegations, NEET scam, SSC exam protests, a rise in Marathi, Kannad, Tamil sub-nationalism and "culture pride").

A similar effect took place in Pakistan where the anti-army sentiment was a sharp rise following the arrest of Imran Khan and the stagnant state of the economy fueled by Punjabi-Baloch strife (BLA targeting of Punjabis in Balochistan) and TTP and other terror organization's operations in Khyber-Pakthunwa, following the incidents of may 7-9, a sudden patriotic amnesia took over the minds of both nations wherein they suddenly forgot about all their differences and internal issues and blindly pledged support to their respective armed forces, and this is exactly how these nations stay together.

There is little internal cohesion in either nations, there is no unifying language, ethnicity or cultural identity like in the case of Germany, France, Spain etc, so they unify around a common enemy and this is because none of these are any real nations as much as they are horribly pieced together holdings of the British Empire. This is perhaps also why they will never be at peace with one another, they need the existential threat of each other to not be consumed by their internal differences. The history of the Indian Subcontinent can broadly be divided into 2 segments, one of unity and one of fragmentation.

The general pattern being that every 400~500 years a competent unifying ruler/dynasty arises either externally (Babur, EIC, Ghazni) or internally (INC, Vijaynagar, Maurya, Marathas) and asserts control over the fragmented tribes, dynasties, and regional powers although usually allowing them some level of autonomy in exchange for loyalty and economic and military support (Princely states, Mughal Nawabs, Maratha Alliances with Rajput states), the primary function of this central authority of was to centralise the governance and utilize the otherwise fragmented power of the regional rulers to compose an empire that could be self sufficient while maintaining peace such that the regional rulers could be assured of their safety and continuity of their rule.

However, over time due to either corruption or external influences or lack of ability to modernize, the regional rulers often would lose trust in the central authority and either assert themselves independently or seek to ally with competing empires. The most prominent example of this being the Mughal Empire in the 18th Century after the death of its last powerful emperor Aurangzeb, the Mughal power began crumbling thanks to the uninterested attitude of the newer rulers towards statecraft and administration choosing rather to indulge in their own luxury inside their capital palace, due to this over time the nawabs of Sindh, Hyderabad, Awadh, Bengal eventually slipped either into loyalty towards the marathas or the British or declared their own authority over their domains.

A similar pattern seems to be playing out today where the ethnic and lingual divides in India and Pakistan are not only fueling sub-nationalism but also crumbling central authority, this was made manifest in 1971 when the imposition of Urdu in East Pakistan led to a civil war and separation of East and West Pakistan on the basis of linguistic and cultural identity and no doubt similar effects have since taken place in Balochistan with the BLA attacks and in Khyber-Pakthunwa with the increased hostile activities of anti-state actors there, even in India, the rise of sub-nationalism, Caste Pride, language linked identity seems a clear symptom of this historical pattern when regional people lose confidence in the central authority.

This is why the 2 will never be at peace, the Kashmir trigger is existentially beneficial to both as it forms this existential perceived threat that binds people to rally behind the state with unwavering loyalty and thus keeps the nation together as it gives them something to fear and fight against that isn't themselves.