Atal’s mentor in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, in the mid-1960s (in conjunction with socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia), had come up with the concept of a confederation of India and Pakistan. This concept, in a way, repudiated the one of Akhand Bharat that extreme right-wing Hindu organizations had been espousing, and paved the way for good bilateral relations between the two countries which could then present a joint front on many matters.
