Nations At Odds
Ever since their independence from Great Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars - mostly over the religiously volatile area of Kashmir - and have declared nuclear weapons capabilities.
|
|
|
 |
The British government assumes administration of India from the East India Company, which was founded in the 1600s in London to exploit spices and textiles from Asia and is abolished in 1848.
|
|
|
|
Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi, who began his non-cooperation movement almost 10 years earlier, calls for peaceful civil disobedience. The Indian National Congress issues a declaration of grievances against Britain.
|
|
|
|
The Muslim League demands a separate homeland for Muslim-majority regions of India.
|
|
|
|
British India is divided into predominately Hindu India and mostly Muslim Pakistan, consisting of Urdu-speaking West Pakistan and Bangla-speaking East Pakistan. Mohammed Ali Jinnah becomes president of Pakistan and Jawaharlal Nehru is prime minister of India.
|
|
|
|
War breaks out between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, barely two months after their independence from Britain.
|
|
|
|
The United Nations brokers a cease-fire and the Kashmir region is split between the two nations along a "line of control."
|
|
|
|
The Indian Kashmir region becomes a part of India after its assembly votes to join the Asian nation. A similar vote to join in 1953 was not recognized by the United Nations.
|
|
|
|
Chinese troops occupy the Aksai Chin section of Kashmir.
|
|
|
|
A second full-scale India-Pakistan war over Kashmir breaks out and ends after a U.N. call for cease-fire.
|
|
|
|
Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistani President Ayub Khan sign a Soviet-mediated peace pact.
|
|
|
|
Bangladeshi nationalists declare independence from West Pakistan-dominated federal government and India intervenes in the Pakistani civil war, which ends with independence for East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
|
|
|
|
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and counterpart Zulfikar Ali Bhutto sign a peace accord in Shimla. The two nations agree that the line of control would divide Kashmir, although not as an official border.
|
|
|
|
India tests a device of up to 15 kilotons and calls the test a "peaceful nuclear explosion." Pakistani Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reportedly later tells a secret meeting of the country's top scientists of his intention to develop nuclear arms.
|
|
|
|
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq agree to begin talks on a non-aggression treaty.
|
|
|
|
Talks between Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries end inconclusively in Islamabad. But both agree on "desirability" of a peace treaty and non-aggression pact.
|
|
|
|
India and Pakistan sign an agreement not to attack each other's nuclear facilities.
|
|
|
|
Pakistan army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg says Pakistan has successfully test-fired its first long-range surface-to-surface rockets. The same year, India successfully tests its long range Agni missile, which can deliver a nuclear warhead to any target in Pakistan or southern China.
|
|
|
|
Islamic insurgency starts in Kashmir.
|
|
|
|
Pakistan says it has acquired knowledge to make a nuclear bomb but will not do so.
|
|
|
|
Foreign secretaries of the two countries fail to narrow differences on Kashmir. Pakistan rules out more talks unless India stops alleged human-rights violations in Kashmir.
|
|
|
|
India conducts five nuclear tests. Pakistan carries out its first nuclear tests. The United States and several other nations impose economic sanctions on both.
|
|
|
|
India successfully tests a missile capable of delivering a nuclear bomb deep inside Pakistan. Pakistan then successfully tests its own similarly capable missile.
|
|
|
|
India and Pakistan fight a limited 11-week battle in the Kargil region of Kashmir.
|
|
|
|
Islamic militants slam explosives-laden car into the state legislature in India-controlled Kashmir, killing 40 people.
|
|
|
|
A suicide attack on Indian parliament leaves 14 dead. India blames Pakistan's spy agency. New Delhi severs diplomatic ties, cuts travel links and moves hundreds of thousands of troops to the frontier, putting its military on war alert. Islamabad denies the charge and matches India's moves.
|
|
|
|
Islamic militants attack a passenger bus and an army base in Jammu-Kashmir, killing 34 people, mostly soldiers' wives and children.
|
|
|
|
During a visit to Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee makes a surprise offer to resume a dialogue with Pakistan.
|
|
|
|
Pakistan responds to Vajpayee's offer, and proposes a series of peace gestures.
|
|
|
|
India and Pakistan agree to take steps to restore diplomatic relations and resume travel links. Diplomatic ties are restored in the following weeks.
|
|
|
|
Vajpayee and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf meet for the first time since 2001.
|
|
|
|
India and Pakistan announce the resumption of bilateral talks on all issues, including Kashmir, to begin in February.
|
|
|
|
On his first trip to South Asia, President George W. Bush says he will use his visits to India and Pakistan to urge both sides to find a lasting solution to their dispute over the divided province.
|
|
|
|
A series of grenade attacks in Srinagar, the main city of India's part of Kashmir, killed at least six people and wounded more than two dozen as Islamic militants pressed their fight against Indian rule of the Himalayan region, police said. The deadliest single attack - and the first of the day - took place when suspected militants tossed a grenade into a minibus carrying Indian tourists through the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.
|
|
|
|
Pakistan condemned bombings on commuter trains in the Indian city of Bombay as a "despicable act of terrorism," the Foreign Ministry said. At least 100 people were killed and another 300 injured when seven explosions rocked Bombay's commuter rail network during evening rush hour, Indian officials said. Officials have suggested the attacks are part of the ongoing dispute between Pakistan and India over claims to Kashmir.
|
|
|
|
Tensions once again mount after terror attacks are carried out by 10 suspected Muslim militants who target upscale hotels, a restaurant and other sites across Mumbai, India, killing more than 170 people and injuring hundreds more. Indian officials say there's no doubt the assailants were Pakistani and that their handlers are in Pakistan and demand strong measures be taken by Pakistan's government.
|
|
|
|
Credits:
CBS News, Associated Press
|
|
|