In the most significant escalation in years, India and Pakistan have exchanged gunfire and airstrikes. On May 7, India launched a series of missile attacks into Pakistani territory, and Pakistan shot down Indian jets in retaliation.
The escalation comes after a terrorist attack in Kashmir left 25 Indian tourists and one Nepalese national dead on April 22. India has claimed that Pakistan supported and aided the attack, which Pakistan has denied.
The latest escalation, which has killed over 40 people across both sides, is ongoing, and world leaders, including U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres as well as President Donald Trump and officials in China and Russia, have urged de-escalation.
The region of Jammu and Kashmir is at the heart of the conflict, and control over it has been disputed between the two neighbours since independence from the British Empire in 1947.
Here’s what to know about the history of tensions.
1947 – Partition and independence from the British Empire
Clashes over Kashmir between India and Pakistan are as old as the countries themselves. When both countries gained independence from Britain in 1947, princely states were given the option to join either Pakistan or India.
The Hindu maharaja, or prince, of Kashmir was Hari Singh. Since Kashmir was predominantly Muslim in population, but Singh was Hindu, he was unsure whether to become part of India, which is predominantly Hindu, or Pakistan, which is predominantly Muslim.
Pakistani tribesmen invaded Kashmir in October 1947, attempting to take control of the state. Hari Singh looked to India for assistance, and signed the Instrument of Accession. This temporarily incorporated Kashmir into India, which would then be subject to a public vote—though no such plebiscite ultimately took place. However, India would later interpret the treaty as final, claiming the territory as part of India.
This led to the start of the First Indo-Pakistani war, which ultimately resulted in a United Nations-mediated ceasefire in 1949, establishing a border through Kashmir that split control between India and Pakistan.
Under the division, which was set up as a temporary border, India was given roughly two-thirds control over Jammu and Kashmir, with Pakistan controlling the other third. However, both countries still claimed the entire region.
1965 – Tensions continue along a temporary border
Small clashes and disagreements between the two countries continued after 1949, and began to escalate further in the 1960s. In August 1965, Pakistan launched an invasion called “Operation Gibraltar” in an attempt to stir up rebellion in Kashmir. The operation failed, but refueled the conflict over Kashmir.
Over the course of a few weeks, thousands of Pakistani and Indian soldiers were killed as the two nations eventually reached a stalemate. A ceasefire was once again brokered by the U.N., with no changes to the border of control. Both sides claimed victory while maintaining claims to the full territory.
1971 – A third war and permanent division
Until 1971, Pakistan also included the territory of East Bengal. It became East Pakistan in 1955, and fought for independence in 1971 to become Bangladesh.
Conflict in Bangladesh led to a refugee crisis in neighbouring India, encouraging Indian intervention in the push for independence and triggering a third war with Pakistan. Following a swift end to this war and sovereignty for Bangladesh, India and Pakistan tried to further stabilize relations with each other.
In July 1972, both parties signed the Simla Agreement, solidifying the temporary border in Kashmir as the “Line of Control.” Despite both countries still claiming authority over the entirety of Kashmir, the Line of Control officially defines the administrative boundaries for India and Pakistan and remains in place.
1987 – A controversial election followed by violence
It is widely believed that the 1987 local elections in Indian-administered Kashmir were rigged in favor of Farooq Abdullah, the head of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party. This led to widespread anger and resentment amongst the population, much of which felt disillusioned with politics and the democratic process.
The following years would see a sharp rise in militant uprisings in Kashmir, largely from groups supported by Pakistan vying for separation from India. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) was established and, with the support of Pakistan, led the insurgency in the region in the early 1990s. It would later distance itself from Pakistan, instead pushing for Kashmiri independence.
Other groups still maintain support from Pakistan, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Throughout the 1990s LeT became the most active and prominent militant group in Kashmir.
In 1999, Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants seized several points in the Indian-administered Himalayan region, resulting in retaliatory airstrikes and the deaths of over 1,000 combatants over 10 weeks.
2000s – Violence continues beyond Kashmir
After conflict throughout the 1990s and escalation between India and Pakistan at the end of the decade, Kashmir became one of the most militarized areas in the world. Militant groups had a significant presence in the region as did the Indian Army.
A number of Kashmiri militant groups, mostly backed by Pakistan and designated as Foreign Terror Organizations by the U.S, continued with attacks into the 2000s.
In 2001, LeT and another group, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), coordinated an attack on the Indian parliament in New Delhi, resulting in the deaths of 14 people including five militants. LeT also carried out 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which left 166 people dead.
2019 – Further escalations in Kashmir
Armed police were the target of the next significant attack in Kashmir, after a lone JeM terrorist drove a car full of explosives into an Indian Central Reserve Police Force convoy in February 2019, killing 40 police personnel.
Later that year, the Indian government stripped Kashmir of its autonomy status. Authorities cut internet and phone connections in the region, and thousands of soldiers were sent to help quell any potential uprisings.
The clampdown would last for months, and toward the end of 2019, a new militant group was formed called “The Resistance Front” (TRF). The group carried out smaller attacks and targeted killings of individuals.
2025 – Tourist terror attack and missile exchanges
April 22 saw the most significant escalation in years and has elevated the conflict between India and Pakistan to worrying heights as the two exchange fresh missile fire.
TRF carried out a terror attack last month in Pahalgam, a popular tourist spot, killing 26 people.
India then canceled a longstanding joint water resources management treaty with Pakistan that also served as a de facto peace accord, and Pakistan responded by suspending the Simla Agreement.
After ensuing tit-for-tat exchanges of gunfire across the border, on Tuesday, India fired a total of 24 strikes as part of “Operation Sindoor,” hitting targets in Pakistan’s Punjab province as well as its administered region of Kashmir and killing at least 31 people, according to Pakistani officials.
Pakistan has since responded with its own strikes and continued deadly artillery fire across the Line of Control.
—Chad de Guzman contributed reporting.
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