15 key diplomatic markers in the troubled history of Pakistan-India

NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: A fraught relationship between Pakistan and India, two states born out of the bloody division of the British Raj upon independence in 1947, still defines the political landscape of South Asia today.

Here are key dates in the troubled history of the nuclear-armed rivals:

On August 14-15 1947, British rule ends and the Indian sub-continent is divided into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. A poorly-prepared partition unleashes sectarian bloodshed that kills hundreds of thousands and displaces millions more. Some estimates say as many as two million people died.



From 1947-1949 the new nations fight over Kashmir, a Muslim-majority state which ends up being divided along a de facto border still disputed today.

A second war over Kashmir in 1965 ends in stalemate. In 1972 the border becomes known as the Line of Control [LoC].

In 1971 the two countries also fight over East Pakistan, which secedes from West Pakistan to form the nation of Bangladesh.

India detonates its first atomic device in 1974 while Pakistan's first public test comes in May 1998. Both countries carry out a series of tests of a nuclear warhead that year, stoking global concern.

In late 1989 Muslim separatist groups launch an anti-India uprising in Kashmir that is later taken over by rebels. Since then the insurrection has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians.

In 1999 major battles between Indian and Pakistani troops in the Kargil mountains leave more than 1,000 dead, but a ceasefire is established on the LoC in 2003 and relations improve.

A year later, a formal peace process is launched.

In November 2008 gunmen attack the Indian city of Mumbai and kill 166 people. India blames Pakistan-based militants for the assault and suspends peace talks. Contacts resume in 2011 but the situation is marred by sporadic fighting.



In September 2016 an Indian army base in Kashmir is hit in an attack which New Delhi blames on Pakistan. In the months prior to that attack, almost 90 civilians die in strikes from both sides. Indian troops stage cross-border raids in Kashmir against separatist positions.

In December 2015 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes a surprise visit to the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, meeting his counterpart Nawaz Sharif. The meeting is heralded as a turning point in relations but is swiftly followed by an attack on an Indian airbase by militants.

Relations sour yet again.