India-Pakistan timeline
2010-02-25 14:18
New Delhi – Key dates in the history of India and Pakistan:
- 1947: End of British rule and partition of the sub-continent into mainly Hindu India and the Muslim-majority state of Pakistan. Partition triggers widespread communal bloodshed in which hundreds of thousands die.
- 1947-49: The two new states go to war over the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir, which is also partitioned, along a de facto border that neither accepts to this day.
- 1965: A new war over Kashmir ends inconclusively.
- 1971: The two countries go to war over East Pakistan, which secedes to form the new nation of Bangladesh.
- 1972: Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sign Simla agreement on principles meant to govern bilateral relations.
- 1974: India explodes first nuclear device in an underground test.
- 1989: Muslim separatist groups begin campaign of violence in Indian Kashmir. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the militants, which Islamabad denies.
- 1998: Both countries carry out tests of nuclear weapons.
- February 1999: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee holds summit with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.
- 1999: Indian troops fight a brief but bloody conflict with Pakistan-backed forces in the mountains of Kargil in Indian-held Kashmir.
- July 2001: Vajpayee holds a summit with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Agra, which ends in failure because of differences over Kashmir.
- 2001: Islamic militants attack the Indian Parliament, killing 15 people. India blames Pakistan-based militants and both countries mass troops on their common border, triggering fears of a fourth war.
- 2003: Pakistan and India agree a ceasefire on the Line of Control in Kashmir.
- 2004: The two countries launch a formal peace process, known as the Composite Dialogue, to address a broad range of bilateral issues.
- November 2008: Islamist gunmen attack the Indian city of Mumbai, killing 166 people. India blames Pakistan-based militants for the assault and suspends the peace dialogue.
- February 4 2010: India offers new talks with Pakistan.
- February 25 2010: Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries meet in New Delhi.
