How the Rann of Kutch became essential to the Indus Basin conflicts between India and Pakistan

The simmering tensions from the 1947 Kashmir dispute and Pakistan’s territorial claims that the Rann of Kutch – a peninsular tract of land with an area roughly of 8,880 square miles surrounded by the Indus towards the west and the Gulf of Kutch in the south – was part of Sindh province, were straining the two countries’ relations and became a significant precursor to the 1965 war. Topographically, the Rann of Kutch is divided by a highland into two parts – the Great Rann in the north (6950 square miles) and the Little Rann in the south-east (1930 square miles). The former connects with the Arabian Sea through Kori Creek in the west, and the latter is connected with the Gulf of Kutch in the south-west. The eastern edge of the Kutch merges with the Luni drainage area. Described as a “bowl-shaped depression”, the north-eastern part of Kutch resembled, as the Imperial Gazetteer of India described, “… large tract of salt with dazzling whiteness … Except a stray bird, a herd of wild asses, antelope, or an occasional caravan, no sign of life breaks the desolate loneliness”.

Millennia ago, the Rann of Kutch was far from a desolate landscape. Archaeological and geological...

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