Abstract

The Fuse in the Subcontinent

The article focuses on the fiscal problems which will persist in multiplicity and the whole set of new problems that must be faced as a result of East Bengal's emergence as the sovereign state of Bangladesh. Theoretically, Bangladesh is dependent upon India; in fact, it is dependent upon the United States. But the most far-reaching possible consequence of Bangladesh, is a somewhat "philosophical" one: namely, the threat posed to the very existence of Pakistan itself as a sovereign state. It follows that Bangladesh is a threat-in-being to the entire subcontinent. The subcontinent might be fragmented and reformed into a number of new states taking little cognizance of present Indian- Pakistani-Kashmiri-Bangladeshi, or whatever, borders.