From Partition to present, India and Pakistan’s fraught journey of conflict

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Indian security force personnel stand guard near the site of a fighter jet crash in Wuyan in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district May 7, 2025. — Reuters pic

ISLAMABAD, May 8 — India said it attacked nine sites in Pakistan including in the disputed territory of Kashmir yesterday in response to the killing of 26 people, mostly tourists, on its part of Kashmir last month that it blamed on Pakistan.

Pakistan said its response to the Indian missile strikes was underway.

India's latest action adds to a long list of military conflicts between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Here is a look at some of the key clashes:

1947: First war over Kashmir

Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan were born in August 1947 after the British ceded colonial control of the subcontinent, and months later the two new countries were at war for control over the scenic Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

India claimed Kashmir as its then Hindu ruler acceded to Delhi, while Pakistan cited popular support from the region's Muslim majority as a basis for its claim.

Fighting raged for months, until the United Nations intervened to establish a ceasefire line in 1949, leaving both countries with control of a part of the territory. Both still claim the entire region.

1965: Second war over Kashmir

Still seeking control over Kashmir, Pakistani forces crossed into India's portion of the disputed region, in response to which India launched a military incursion across the boundary.

The fighting spread outside Kashmir into many settled boundary areas, seeing pitched battles involving both ground and air forces, and some of the biggest tank battles in history.

1971: War over East Pakistan

The neighbours fought their third war over Pakistan's eastern wing, where regional groups were seeking independence from the federal government.

Thousands of people died in the conflict, which ended in India helping the region secede, creating the independent country Bangladesh.

1999: Kargil War

The countries faced off in the high-altitude region of Kargil after Pakistani troops infiltrated Indian-administered Kashmir. It was the first clash since both officially gained nuclear weapons capability, raising the risks of a catastrophic war.

Both sides suffered hundreds of casualties before Indian forces reclaimed the territory, and international intervention stopped the fighting.

2016: Uri Attack

India said it conducted "surgical strikes" on alleged Islamist militant launchpads in Pakistani territory after gunmen stormed an Indian military base in Kashmir's Uri region.

Islamabad said there had been no Indian incursion into its territory and there was no retaliation by Pakistani forces.

2019: Pulwama Attack

India conducted air strikes on what it said was a militant training camp near the Pakistani town of Balakot in response to a suicide car bombing in Kashmir's Pulwama area.

Pakistan, which said the planes had bombed an empty hillside and not a camp, launched a retaliatory incursion into Indian airspace that led to a dogfight between the two air forces, leading to the capture of an Indian pilot.

The situation cooled after he was released days later. — Reuters