NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after a fourth day of strikes and counter-strikes against each other’s military installations.
Here is a chronology of major military and diplomatic escalations in their troubled relationship since 1999.
May–July 1999:
India and Pakistan fight an undeclared war in the Kargil region of Kashmir after Pakistani army-backed irregulars occupy Indian posts on the Line of Control (LoC), or ceasefire line. India pushes back after intense fighting. The U.S. pressures Pakistan to withdraw.
December 2001:
A heavily armed group attacks India’s parliament building in New Delhi, killing nine people. India blames Pakistan-based Islamist groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The two countries come to the brink of a fourth war.
November 2008:
Ten heavily armed attackers target major landmarks across Mumbai, including two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and the main train station, killing 166 people. India pauses all dialogue with Pakistan, resuming briefly years later under a structured peace process.
January 2016:
Attackers disguised as soldiers storm an Indian Air Force base near the Pakistan border, exchanging fire with Indian forces who, backed by tanks and helicopters, battle for more than 15 hours before wresting back control of the compound.
All five assailants and at least two guards are killed.
India says the attackers came from Pakistan, while Pakistani authorities condemn the raid. Peace talks, briefly revived in 2015, stall again.
September 2016:
Eighteen Indian soldiers are killed in an attack on an army base in Uri in Indian Kashmir. India blames Pakistan for the attack and responds with “surgical strikes” across the LoC on what it calls terrorist launchpads.
Pakistan denies any incursion on its territory.
February 2019:
A suicide bomber kills 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir. India conducts air strikes in Balakot, Pakistan.
Pakistan responds with air strikes of its own and shoots down an Indian aircraft. India also claims to have shot down a Pakistani plane but this is not confirmed. The standoff cools following international pressure.
August 2019:
India revokes Kashmir’s special status, scrapping a constitutional provision that allowed the state of Jammu and Kashmir to make its own laws. Pakistan downgrades diplomatic ties and suspends trade.
April 2025:
Twenty-six men are killed when Islamist assailants target Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir. India blames Pakistan-backed groups; Pakistan denies involvement and calls for a neutral investigation.
India suspends the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the river and its tributaries, while Pakistan suspends all trade with India, including through third countries.
Both countries close airspace to each other’s airlines and revoke most visas issued to each other’s nationals.
May 2025:
India attacks sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir, targeting what it describes as “terrorist infrastructure”.
Over four days, both countries engage in strikes and counter-strikes against each other’s military installations.
On May 10, the two countries said they had agreed to a ceasefire, after pressure from and talks with the United States.
(Compiled by Surbhi Misra; Editing by YP Rajesh, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Kevin Liffey)
