what is the relation between India and Pakistan

 what is the relation between India and Pakistan:

India and Pakistan have a complicated and predominantly antagonistic relationship based on a myriad of historical and political incidents, primarily the division of British India in August 1947.

Two years following World War II, the United Kingdom officially dissolved British India and split it into two new sovereign states: the Union of India and Pakistan. The division of the ex-British colony led to the displacement of as many as 15 million individuals, and the estimated death toll is said to have ranged from a few hundred thousand to one million individuals as Hindus and Muslims moved in opposite directions along the Radcliffe Line to find their way to India and Pakistan, respectively In 1950, India became a secular republic with a Hindu majority. Soon after, in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic with a Muslim majority.

Whereas the two nations of South Asia established complete diplomatic relations soon after their official independence, their relation was soon overpowered by both the mutual consequences of the partition as well as by the assertion of competing territorial claims over most of the princely states, the most vital being that of Jammu and Kashmir. India and Pakistan have fought three full-scale wars and one undeclared war since 1947, and have also had several armed skirmishes and military confrontations; the Kashmir dispute has been the cause of all but the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which took place instead in conjunction with the Bangladesh Liberation War, in which East Pakistan broke away to become the sovereign state of Bangladesh. It led to a massive displacement of Pakistan's Hindu minority. The India–Pakistan border is the most heavily militarized international border on the planet.

Several attempts have been made to mend the relationship, significantly with the 1972 Shimla summit, 1999 Lahore summit, and the 2001 Agra summit among other peace and co-operation attempts. Irrespective of such efforts, bilateral relations have been kept cold by repeated episodes of cross-border terror sponsored by the Pakistani side as well as claims of subversive activity sponsored by India. The absence of any political dividends on both sides for following improved relations has led to a phase of "minimalist engagement" by the two nations. This enables them to maintain a "cold peace" with one another Northern India and the bulk of contemporary eastern Pakistan coincide with one another as far as their shared Indo-Aryan population goes, natively speaking a group of Indo-Aryan languages (predominantly Punjabi, Sindhi, and Hindi–Urdu).

Despite linguistic and cultural links between the two nations, the volume of India–Pakistan trade is highly minimal compared with the magnitude of their economies as well as sharing a land boundary. Trade on direct routes has been restricted formally, and the majority of India–Pakistan trade flows through Dubai in the Middle East. In 2017, a BBC World Service survey states that merely 5% of Indians see Pakistan's influence as good, with 85% having a negative perception, whereas 11% of Pakistanis see India's influence as good, with 62% having a negative perception.

Background:

Pre-partition era:

The majority of pre-British invasions into India (the Muslim conquests excepted, the most influential) were from the northwest via the present-day area of Pakistan. This geography resulted in Pakistan receiving more Persian and Muslim influences than the remainder of the subcontinent, as evidenced by its use of an adapted Perso-Arabic alphabet to write its indigenous languages.

During the 1840s, Sindh, Kashmir, and Punjab along the current India–Pakistan border were annexed into British India. British historian John Keay observes that whereas the remainder of British India overall had been brought together primarily by treaties and other peaceful means, much of modern-day Pakistan was physically conquered. By the early 20th century, the Pakistan Movement had gained momentum, calling for an independent nation for Indian Muslims cut out of the northwestern and northeastern areas. 

Seeds of conflict during independence:

Massive population transfers took place between the two newly created states in the months immediately after the partition. There was no idea that population transfers would be required due to partitioning. Religious minorities were supposed to remain in the states they found themselves living in. But while an exception was made for Punjab, where population transfers were organized due to communal violence in the province, this exception did not extend to other provinces
British India's partition divided the former British province of Punjab and Bengal between the Dominion of Pakistan and the Dominion of India. The predominantly Muslim western portion of the province was constituted as Pakistan's Punjab province, while the predominantly Hindu and Sikh eastern part became India's East Punjab state (which was subsequently partitioned to create the new states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh). Many Hindus and Sikhs lived in the west, and many Muslims lived in the east, and the fears of all such minorities were so great that the Partition saw many people displaced and much inter-communal violence. Some have described the violence in Punjab as a retributive genocide. Total migration from Punjab during the partition is approximated at 12 million individuals approximately 6.5 million Muslims migrated from East Punjab to West Punjab, and 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs migrated from West Punjab to East Punjab.

In accordance with the British scheme for dividing British India, all 680 princely states were permitted to choose either of the two nations to join. Except for a few, the majority of the Muslim-majority princely-states joined Pakistan and the majority of the Hindu-majority princely states joined India. But the choices made by some of the princely states would dominate the Pakistan–India relationship in the future years.

Junagadh question:

Junagadh was a state at the south-west corner of Gujarat, with the Manavadar, Mangrol and Babriawad principalities. It was not adjacent to Pakistan and physically isolated it from Pakistan were other states. The state was predominantly Hindu in population which formed over 80% of its population, whereas its Muslim ruler was Nawab Mahabat Khan. Mahabat Khan joined Pakistan on 15 August 1947. Acceptance of the accession was confirmed by Pakistan on 15 September 1947.

India did not recognize the accession as valid. The Indian perspective was that Junagadh was not adjacent to Pakistan, that it was desired by the Hindu majority of Junagadh to be a part of India, and that the state was bordered by Indian land on three sides.

The Pakistani position was that because Junagadh had a ruler and administration who opted to join Pakistan, they should be permitted to do so. Furthermore, because Junagadh had a coastline, even as an Indian enclave it would have been able to sustain maritime connections with Pakistan.

Neither state could sort out this problem peaceably and it merely added fuel to a red-hot situation. India's Home Minister, Sardar Patel, believed that if Junagadh were allowed to accede to Pakistan, communal violence would erupt all over Gujarat. The Indian government provided an ultimatum to Pakistan to negate the accession and conduct a plebiscite in Junagadh to prevent any unrest in Gujarat. Samaldas Gandhi established a government-in-exile, the Arzi Hukumat (in Urdu: Arzi: Transitional, Hukumat: Government) of the Junagadh people. Patel instructed the annexation of the three main principalities of Junagadh. 

India terminated supplies of fuel and coal to Junagadh, cut air and postal connections, deployed troops on the border, and occupied the acceded principalities of Mangrol and Babariawad. On 26 October, Nawab of Junagadh and his family escaped to Pakistan after their confrontation with Indian forces. On 7 November, Junagadh's court, on the brink of collapse, invited the Government of India to administer the State. The Dewan of Junagadh, Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto, father of the better-known Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, decided to invite the Government of India to step in and wrote a letter to Mr. Buch, the Regional Commissioner of Saurashtra in the Government of India to that effect. The Government of Pakistan objected. The Indian Government spurned Pakistan's protests and accepted the Dewan's invitation to intervene.Indian forces occupied Junagadh on 9 November 1947. A plebiscite conducted nearly unanimously in February 1948 voted for accession to India.

Kashmir conflict:

Kashmir was a Muslim-dominated princely state, governed by a Hindu ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh. Maharaja Hari Singh, the state ruler, at the time of partition of India, did not wish to join either the Dominion of India or the Dominion of Pakistan and instead wanted to remain independent.

In spite of the standstill agreement with Pakistan, groups of Pakistani troops were sent into Kashmir. Supported by Pakistani paramilitary troops, Pashtun Mehsud tribal attacked Kashmir in October 1947 under the code name "Operation Gulmarg" to capture Kashmir. The Maharaja asked for military aid from India. The Governor General of India, Lord Mountbatten, asked the Maharaja to accede to India before troops could be sent from India. In accordance, the accession instrument was signed and accepted on 26–27 October 1947. The accession and Indian military aid were endorsed by Sheikh Abdullah, political leader of the state and the head of the National Conference party, and Abdullah became the Head of Emergency Administration of the state the next week.

Pakistan did not accept the accession of the state to India and intensified the conflict, by extending full support to the rebels and invading tribes. A continuous resupply of Pashtun tribes were made arrangements for, and supplied arms and ammunition as well as military command.

Indian forces were able to drive away the invading tribes from the Kashmir Valley but the arrival of winter rendered most of the state impassable. In December 1947, India petitioned the United Nations Security Council to stop the outbreak of a general war between the two new nations. The Security Council issued Resolution 47, calling on Pakistan to recall all its citizens from Kashmir, calling on India to withdraw the majority of its troops as a second measure, and proposing to hold a plebiscite to ascertain the will of the people. While India refused to accept the resolution, it did adopt an appropriately revised version of it that had been negotiated by the UN Commission established for the purpose, as did Pakistan later in 1948. A ceasefire was announced on 1 January the next year.

But India and Pakistan were unable to see eye to eye on the appropriate demilitarisation steps for it to take place as a prelude to the plebiscite. Pakistan reorganised the Azad Kashmir rebel fighting forces into a complete military of 32 battalions, and India demanded it be dissolved as part of demilitarisation. No consensus was reached, and the plebiscite never materialised.

Wars, conflicts, and disputes:

India and Pakistan have engaged in various armed conflicts after their independence. There are three substantial wars that have occurred between the two nations, which include in 1947, 1965 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. On top of this was the unofficial Kargil War in 1999 and a series of border skirmishes. Whereas both countries have maintained a precarious cease-fire deal since 2003, they are still exchanging bullets across the border of contention. Both countries accuse each other of violating the cease-fire deal, arguing that they are firing back at attacks. On either side of the contested border, a rise in border skirmishes that began in late 2016 and escalated into 2018 killed hundreds of civilians and rendered a thousand homeless.

War of 1965;

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 began after the culmination of exchanges of fire which occurred between April 1965 and September 1965 and Operation Gibraltar, an attempt made by Pakistan to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir with a view to causing an uprising against Indian rule. India reacted by initiating an all-out armed invasion of West Pakistan. The seventeen-day war resulted in thousands of casualties on each side and saw the biggest use of armored vehicles and biggest tank battle since World War II. Fighting between the two nations ceased after a United Nations-mandated ceasefire was announced following diplomatic action by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the subsequent release of the Tashkent Declaration. The five-week war resulted in thousands of casualties on each side. Most of the fighting was done by the rival infantry and armored forces, with huge support from air forces, and naval warfare. It concluded with a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire and the subsequent release of the Tashkent Declaration.

War of 1971;

Pakistan, after independence, was geographically separated into two vast areas, West Pakistan and East Pakistan. East Pakistan was inhabited predominantly by Bengali individuals. Following a Pakistani military action and a genocide against Bengalis in December 1971, after a political crisis within East Pakistan, things quickly went out of hand in East Pakistan and India stepped in on behalf of the secessionist Bengali masses. The war, a short but bloody conflict, produced the independence of East Pakistan. During the war, the Indian Army attacked East Pakistan from three sides, and the Indian Navy utilized the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant to impose a naval blockade upon East Pakistan. The war saw the Indian Navy's first ever offensive operations against an enemy port, when the Karachi harbour was attacked twice under Operation Trident (1971) and Operation Python. These raids destroyed much of Pakistan's naval power, while not a single Indian ship was lost. One Indian ship, however, was lost by the Indian Navy when INS Khukri (F149) was torpedoed by a Pakistani submarine. 13 days into the invasion of East Pakistan, 93,000 Pakistani troops were surrendered to the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini. Following the Pakistani forces' surrender, East Pakistan became the sovereign state of Bangladesh.

1999 Kargil War;

In May 1999 the presence of militants and non-military Pakistani troops (many with official identification and Pakistan Army's signature guns) in the Kashmir Valley, having occupied border hilltops and unmanned border posts, was detected by some Kashmiri shepherds. The incursion revolved around the town of Kargil but also extended to the Batalik and Akhnoor sectors and artillery battles at the Siachen Glacier.

 The Indian forces retaliated with Operation Vijay, which was initiated on 26 May 1999. This involved the Indian forces engaging thousands of militants and soldiers amidst intense artillery bombardment and while being exposed to very harsh weather, snow and hostile terrain at high altitude. More than 500 Indian troops died in the three-month Kargil War, and it is estimated that 600–4,000 Pakistani militants and soldiers also died. India repelled the Pakistani militants and Northern Light Infantry troops. Nearly 70% of the land was recovered by India.[29] Vajpayee wrote a "secret letter" to U.S. President Bill Clinton that unless Pakistani intruders withdrew from the Indian territory, "we will get them out, one way or the other".

 After Pakistan incurred heavy losses, and as both the United States and China declined to approve the incursion or threaten India to desist from its military action, General Pervez Musharraf was obstinate and Nawaz Sharif requested the remaining militants to vacate and retreat to positions along the LoC. The militants were not ready to accept orders from Sharif but the NLI troops retreated. The militants were eliminated by the Indian army or compelled to retreat in skirmishes which even went on after the declaration of retreat by Pakistan.

 A later military coup in Pakistan that toppled democratically elected Nawaz Sharif regime in October of the same year was also a blow to relations.

Water conflicts;

There were near 1 million Hindu refugees recorded by India in 1949, who swarmed into West Bengal and other states from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) due to communal violence, intimidation, and repression by authorities. The suffering of the refugees infuriated Hindus and Indian nationalists, and the refugee community depleted the resources of Indian states, which could not accommodate them. Though not excluding war, Prime Minister Nehru and Sardar Patel invited Liaquat Ali Khan to negotiations in Delhi. Though Indians described this as appeasement, Nehru entered into an agreement with Liaquat Ali Khan which committed both countries to the safety of minorities and establishment of minority commissions. Nehru and Khan also signed a trade agreement, and agreed to resolve bilateral issues peacefully. Slowly but surely, hundreds of thousands of Hindus migrated back to East Pakistan, though the warming up between the two countries was short-lived, chiefly due to the Kashmir dispute.

Insurgency in Kashmir (1989–present):

The Pakistani military and the ISI allegedly have given secret help to terrorist organizations operating within Kashmir, such as the al-Qaeda member Jaish-e-Mohammed, according to some reports released by the Council of Foreign Relations. Pakistan has denied any role in terror activities in Kashmir, contending that it provides only political and moral support to the secessionist movement that wants to free itself from Indian rule. Most of the Kashmiri militant organizations also base their headquarters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which is presented as additional evidence by the Indian state.

 Reporter Stephen Suleyman Schwartz observes that various militant and criminal organizations are "supported by senior officers in the Pakistani army, the country's ISI intelligence apparatus and other weapons-carrying branches of the state."

List of some insurgent attacks:

Insurgents attack on Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly: A car bomb was detonated outside the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly on 1 October 2001, killing 27 individuals on an assault attributed to Kashmiri separatists. It was one of India's most high-profile attacks besides on the Indian Parliament in December 2001. The bodies of the terrorists and the information extracted from them showed that Pakistan was entirely behind the activity.

Qasim Nagar Attack: On 13 July 2003, armed men believed to be a part of the Lashkar-e-Toiba threw hand grenades at the Qasim Nagar market in Srinagar and then fired on civilians standing nearby killing twenty-seven and injuring many more.

Assassination of Abdul Ghani Lone: Abdul Ghani Lone, senior All Party Hurriyat Conference leader, was assassinated by an unknown gunmen at a memorial rally in Srinagar. The killing led to mass-scale demonstrations against the Indian occupied-forces for not being able to provide sufficient security cover to Mr. Lone

20 July 2005 Srinagar Bombing: A car bomb detonated close to an armoured Indian Army vehicle in the popular Church Lane area of Srinagar killing four Indian Army men, one civilian and the suicide bomber. Terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, took responsibility for the attack.

Budshah Chowk attack: A 29 July 2005 terrorist attack at Srinigar city center, Budshah Chowk, resulted in the deaths of two and injuries to over 17 individuals. The majority of the injured were journalists from the media.

Murder of Ghulam Nabi Lone: A suspected man murdered then education minister Ghulam Nabi Lone of Jammu and Kashmir on 18 October 2005. No Terrorist organization took responsibility for the attack.

2016 Uri attack: On 18 September 2016, four terrorists launched a terror attack on security forces near the town of Uri in the Jammu and Kashmir state of India, killing 18 and injuring over 20 people. The attack was termed "the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades".

2019 Pulwama attack: On 14 February 2019, a car convoy of security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was targeted by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber in Lethpora close to Awantipora, Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India. A total of 38 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and the attacker died in the attack. The attack was attributed by the Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamist militant group based in Pakistan.

2025 Pahalgam attack: On 22 April 2025, 26 Tourists attacked by terrorists, this attack led to death of 28 individuals including 1 local from Jammu and Kashmir and 2 foreigners from Nepal and UAE. India stop Indus river supply to Pakistan.

Insurgent activities elsewhere:

The Parliament attack was the most dramatic assault carried out allegedly by Pakistani terrorists. India accused Pakistan of conducting the attacks, which was vehemently denied by Pakistan. The subsequent 2001–2002 India–Pakistan confrontation made people apprehensive about a nuclear confrontation between the two nuclear-powered nations. Yet international efforts for peace made sure that the two nations cooled off.

Other than this, the most significant was the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 on its way New Delhi from Kathmandu, Nepal. The aircraft was hijacked on 24 December 1999 about an hour after departure and was diverted to Amritsar airport and then Lahore in Pakistan. After refuelling the aircraft departed for Dubai and then finally reached Kandahar, Afghanistan. Surrendering under pressure from the media, New Delhi acted on the hijackers' demand and released Maulana Masood Azhar from its captivity for the release of the Indian nationals on the flight. The move proved costly for New Delhi. Maulana, who reportedly hid in Karachi, went on to become the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed, an outfit which has committed a host of acts of terrorism against Indian security personnel in Kashmir.

 On 22nd December 2000, a team of Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists attacked the renowned Red Fort in New Delhi. The Fort contains an Indian military detachment and one high-security interrogation room utilized jointly by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Indian Army. The terrorists managed to penetrate the security cover surrounding the Red Fort and opened fire at the Indian military personnel on duty and killed two of them on the spot. The attack was important since it occurred only two days after the announcement of the cease-fire between India and Pakistan.

In 2002, India once again alleged that Jammu and Kashmiri terrorists were infiltrating into India, which was refuted by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who alleged that infiltration had ceased—India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson did away with the plea of Pakistan, terming it "terminological inexactitude". Just two months after this, two Jaish-e-Mohammed Kashmiri terrorists attacked the Swami Narayan temple complex in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, killing 30 individuals, including 18 women and five children. The attack was on 25 September 2002, just a few days after state elections had been conducted in Jammu and Kashmir. Two similar letters discovered on both the terrorists stated that the attack was carried out in response to the massacre of thousands of Muslims during Gujarat riots.

 Two car bombs blew up in south Mumbai on 25 August 2003; one close to the Gateway of India and the other at the popular Zaveri Bazaar, killing a minimum of 48 and injuring 150 individuals. Although no terrorist outfit had taken responsibility for the attacks, Mumbai Police and RAW suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba's involvement in the twin explosions.

 In a failed effort, six terrorists from Lashkar-e-Toiba, attacked the Ayodhya Ram Janmbhomi complex on 5 July 2005. The terrorists were killed by Indian security personnel before they could get to the main disputed area. One Hindu worshipper and two police officers were hurt in the process.

2001 Indian Parliament attack:

The 2001 Indian Parliament attack was a terrorist attack on the Parliament of India in New Delhi on 13 December 2001, where fourteen individuals, including the five attackers, were killed. Perpetrators included Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists. The attack resulted in the deaths of five terrorists, six Delhi Police officers, two Parliament Security Service officers and one gardener, a total of 14 and to heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, leading to the 2001–02 India–Pakistan standoff.

2001–02 India–Pakistan standoff:

The 2001–2002 India–Pakistan confrontation was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan which resulted in the concentration of forces on both sides of the border and along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kashmir region. This was the largest Indian-Pakistani military confrontation since the Kargil War in 1999. The buildup began with India reacting to an attack on the 2001 Indian Parliament and the 2001 Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly attack.India accused two terror outfits based in Pakistan, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, of carrying out the attacks, both of whom India has stated are supported by Pakistan's ISI a claim denied by Pakistan. Tensions were eased after international diplomatic intervention which led to October 2002 withdrawal of Indianand Pakistani troops from the international border.

2007 Samjhauta Express bombings:

The 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings was a terror bombing of the Samjhauta Express train on 18 February. The Samjhauta Express is an international train from New Delhi, India to Lahore, Pakistan and is one of two trains that cross the India–Pakistan border. At least 68 were killed, primarily Pakistani civilians but also some Indian security forces and civilians.

2008 Mumbai attacks:

2008 Mumbai terrorist attack by ten Pakistani terrorists killed 173 and injured 308. The only surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab who was caught in action was identified as a Pakistani national. This was confirmed by Pakistani authorities. He was convicted by an Indian court on four charges of murder, waging war against India, conspiracy and terrorism offences, on May 2010, and sentenced to death.

India accused Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba of plotting and carrying out the attacks. The Indian government urged Pakistan to hand over suspects to be tried there. They further stated that the sophistication of the attacks meant perpetrators "must have had the backing of some official agencies in Pakistan". In July 2009 Pakistani officials confirmed that LeT planned and funded the attacks from LeT camps in Karachi and Thatta.In November 2009, Pakistani officials charged seven men they had arrested, with planning and carrying out the attack.

On 9 April 2015, the senior ringleader of the attacks, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi[66][67] was released on bail against surety bonds of Rs. 200,000 (US$690) in Pakistan.

Balochistan Insurgency:

The Balochistan Insurgency, which has been in progress since the early 2000s, includes separatist movements within Pakistan's Balochistan province who are clamoring for autonomy. The BLA, the biggest and most visible group, has waged war on independence based on long-held complaints of perceived discrimination and underdevelopment by the federal government. The insurgency heightened in March 2025 when the BLA hijacked a train in a distant part of Balochistan and killed 26 individuals.

 Pakistan's military has blamed India for backing the insurgents, pointing to the 2016 detention of Indian naval commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was convicted of spying and accused of helping Baloch separatists. India has dismissed these claims, saying it has no role in the insurgency. The strategic location of the region, with its oil and mineral resources, and its proximity to India, has made the conflict a central issue in South Asian military tensions.

2025 conflict:

In the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22 which killed 26 civilians, 25 Indian tourists and one Nepali national, the relations between India and Pakistan have hit an all-time low. The attack, blamed by India on the Islamic Resistance Front, which is a splinter of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has triggered a chain of tit-for-tat actions by both countries, driving tensions to their highest level in years. Subsequently, it was found that the attack involved Hashim Musa, a retired para commando in the Pakistan Army's Special Service Group (SSG). Trained in unconventional and covert warfare, he was recruited into the outlawed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba following his dismissal and entered Kashmir in September 2023. His SSG background came to light during the interrogation of Over Ground Workers (OGWs) assisting the perpetrators.

Diplomatic fallout:

India's response:

As a retaliation to growing tensions, India suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, putting the long-standing water-sharing pact "in abeyance" because of what it claims is Pakistan's continued support for cross-border terrorism. Besides that, India placed visa and diplomatic restrictions, suspending visa services to Pakistani nationals and ejecting a number of Pakistani diplomats. As part of wider punitive actions, the Attari–Wagah border was closed, de facto severing overland trade and further complicating bilateral relations.

Pakistan's countermeasures:

Pakistan, in turn, has declared a series of countermeasures. It has abrogated the 1972 Shimla Agreement, which had underlined peaceful settlement of bilateral issues. Pakistan has also closed its skies for Indian planes and suspended all trade with India. Diplomatically, Indian diplomats have been deported, and the strength of personnel at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad has been drastically cut down, widening the diplomatic divide between the two nations.

India's missile attacks:

India attacked Pakistan proper and Pakistan-administered Kashmir with several airstrikes on May 6 as part of Operation Sindoor, an important escalation of the war. India said that it attacked nine "terrorist infrastructure" facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir and that the locations were used to organize and stage attacks. It emphasized the attacks were targeted, did not target Pakistani military locations, and were non-escalatory. Jaish-e-Mohammad base of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke were some of the sites targeted. Pakistan claimed hits in Muzaffarabad, Kotli, and Bahawalpur.

Weapons of mass destruction;

India has a deep history of the development of nuclear weapons. India's nuclear programme began in 1944 when it initiated a nuclear programme after gaining independence. During the period 1940s–1960s, India's nuclear programme gradually evolved towards militarization and developed nuclear power infrastructure all over the nation. Decisions regarding the production of nuclear weapons were taken by Indian political authorities following the 1962 Chinese invasion and annexation of North India. In 1967, India's nuclear program was focused on the production of nuclear weapons, and Indira Gandhi was in charge of the weapon development. India also started getting military and political leverage over Pakistan in 1971, following their victory in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. In 1972, India began preparations to conduct a nuclear test, and in 1974 it detonated its very first nuclear bomb at the Pokhran testing facility, codenamed Smiling Buddha.
India started making space and nuclear-capable rockets in the 1980s–90s with its Integrated Guided Missile Development Program, which represented Pakistan's attempt at competing with India in the space race. Pakistan's Integrated Missile Research and Development Programme came up with nuclear and space missiles and initiated uncrewed flight trials of its space vehicles during the mid-1990s.
Following defeat in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war, Pakistan initiated its nuclear bomb program in 1972, and expedited efforts in 1974, following the first nuclear bomb explosion by India in Pokhran test facility. This massive nuclear bomb project was in direct reaction to India's nuclear project. Pakistan made one of its biggest strides in its endeavors in 1983 when it clandestinely conducted a series of non-fission tests, known as the Kirana-I. There were no confirmatory statements on the same from the Government of Pakistan. During the course of the following few years, Pakistan developed and upgraded nuclear power schemes throughout the nation to fuel its electricity sector and to give back-up assistance and advantage to its national economy. In 1988, a mutual understanding was established between the two nations whereby each of them agreed not to attack nuclear facilities. Arrangements regarding cultural exchanges and civil aviation were also begun in 1988.Finally, in May 1998, India conducted its second series of nuclear tests (see Pokhran-II) that prompted Pakistan to respond with its own test series, also in May 1998

Terrorism charges;

Border terrorism;

India and the United States have called for Pakistan to cease allowing its land to be used as a platform for terrorist organizations after several Islamic jihadist terrorist attacks in Kashmir and other areas of India. The Pakistani government has denied the charge and blamed India for funding so-called "state-sponsored terror".

Fugitives;

India has blamed some of the most wanted Indian fugitives, like Dawood Ibrahim, with having a presence in Pakistan. On 11 May 2011, India published a list of 50 "Most Wanted Fugitives" who are in hiding in Pakistan. It was to strategically put pressure on Pakistan following the assassination of Osama bin Laden in his compound in Abbottabad.[90] Following two mistakes in the list getting publicity, the list was taken off the Central Bureau of Investigation website pending an examination. Following this incident, the Pakistani interior ministry turned down the list sent by India to Islamabad, stating that it should first investigate whether the individuals mentioned in the list were even residing in the country.

Talks and other confidence-building measures;

The 1971 war, Pakistan and India progressed slowly towards the normalisation of relations. In July 1972, Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi met in the Indian hill station of Shimla. They signed the Shimla Agreement, in which India would repatriate all Pakistani personnel (more than 90,000) and occupied territory in the west, and the two nations would "settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations." Diplomatic and commercial relations were also restored in 1976.

1990s;

In 1997, senior-level Indo-Pakistani talks were resumed after a break of three years. The Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers met twice and the foreign secretaries held three rounds of negotiations. The foreign secretaries in June 1997 outlined eight "outstanding issues" around which future talks would revolve. The dispute regarding the status of Kashmir, (also known as Jammu and Kashmir by India), a problem since Independence, is the key sticking point in their negotiations. India asserts that the whole of the former princely state is part of the Indian union, whereas Pakistan holds that UN resolutions for self-determination of the state/province people must be considered. It nonetheless declines to comply with the earlier section of the resolution, which requires it to leave all occupied territories.
In September 1997, the negotiations collapsed on the format of addressing the matters of Kashmir, and peace and security. Pakistan urged that the matters be addressed by individual working groups. India reacted by saying the two matters be addressed simultaneously with six others.
Efforts towards resolving dialogue between the two countries were dealt a big push by the February 1999 meeting of both Prime Ministers in Lahore and their signing of three agreements

2000s;

The Agra summit was convened in 2001; Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf arrived to meet Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The negotiations failed. Musharraf failed to make the summit a success.
On 20 June 2004, when a new government was established in India, both nations agreed to prolong a nuclear test ban and to establish a hotline between their foreign secretaries to avoid misunderstandings that could trigger a nuclear war.
Baglihar Dam issue was a fresh issue that was raised by Pakistan in 2005.
Following Dr. Manmohan Singh's election as the prime minister of India in May 2004, the Punjab provincial government announced that it would make Gah, his birthplace, a model village in his name and honor and name a school after him. There is also a village in India called Pakistan, despite periodic pressure over the years to rename it the villagers have stood firm.

The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus route has eased tensions between India and Pakistan. Pictured here is India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagging off the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus in Srinagar on 7 April 2005.
Violent actions in the area subsided in 2004. There are two primary reasons for this: warming of relations between Islamabad and New Delhi which, in turn, resulted in a ceasefire between the two nations in 2003 and fencing of the Line of Control being undertaken by the Indian Army. Additionally, under heavy foreign pressure, Islamabad was forced to act against the militants' camps on its soil. Both nations also decided in 2004 to reduce the number of troops in the area. 
Under pressure, Kashmiri militant groups extended an invitation for negotiations and talks with New Delhi, which was welcomed by India.
India's Border Security Force accused the Pakistani army of rendering cover-fire for the terrorists when they crossed over into Indian borders from Pakistan. Pakistan has, in turn, accused India as well of rendering support to terror groups operating in Pakistan like the BLA.
In 2005, Pakistan's information minister Sheikh Rashid was accused of having operated a terrorist training camp in 1990 in N.W. Frontier, Pakistan. The Pakistani government ruled out the accusations against its minister as an attempt to undermine the ongoing peace process between the two neighbours.
India and Pakistan have introduced a number of mutual confidence-building measures (CBMs) to reduce tensions between the two. These include increased high-level talks, relaxation of visa restrictions, and resumption of cricket matches between the two. The introduction of the new bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad has also served to bring the two closer. Pakistan and India have also agreed to co-operate on economic fronts.
A few enhancements in the relations are witnessed with the opening up of a chain of transportation routes close to the India–Pakistan border, most crucial being railway lines and bus routes.
There was a significant confrontation between Indian security forces and militants when a band of insurgents attempted to cross into Kashmir from Pakistan in July 2005. The month of July also witnessed a Kashmiri militant attack on Srinagar and Ayodhya. These developments, however, did not have any effect on the peace process.
An Indian citizen who was imprisoned in Pakistani jails since 1975 on suspicion of being a spy crossed the border to freedom on 3 March 2008, an unconditional release Pakistan stated was done to enhance the two nations' relations.
In 2006, a "Friends Without Borders" programme started with the assistance of two British visitors. The concept was that Indian and Pakistani kids would become pen pals and exchange friendly letters to one another. The concept proved to be so successful in both nations that the organisation found it "impossible to keep up". The World's Largest Love Letter was recently delivered from India to Pakistan.

2010s;

In December 2010, a number of Pakistani newspapers reported India's leadership and ties with Pakistan-based militants as described in the United States diplomatic cables leak by the papers. A British paper, The Guardian, which held the Wikileaks cables reported analyzing the cables and determining that the Pakistani assertions were "not accurate" and that "WikiLeaks [was] being used for propaganda purposes."

On 10 Feb 2011, India accepted to resume diplomatic talks with Pakistan which were paused after 26/11 Mumbai Attacks.India had suspended all the diplomatic ties stating that it will resume only if Pakistan will take action against the accused of Mumbai attacks.

On 13 April 2012, in an improvement of relations where India secured MFN status in the nation, India announced de restriction on FDI investment from Pakistan to India.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on 11 July 2012 said in Phnom Penh that her nation is prepared to solve some of the conflicts such as, Sir Creek and Siachen based on solutions found earlier.

Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna on 7 September 2012 would undertake a 3-day visit to Pakistan to examine progress of bilateral dialogue with his counterpart in Pakistan.

In August 2019, after the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill in the Indian Parliament, which abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, additional tension was introduced between the two nations, as Pakistan lowered their diplomatic relations, shutting down its airspace and suspending bilateral trade with India.

The Kartarpur Corridor was inaugurated in November 2019.

2020s;

On 25 February 2021, India and Pakistan released a joint statement declaring that the two sides committed to ceasing the exchange of firing at each other along the Line of Control (LOC, disputed de facto boundary) in Kashmir.

Nonetheless, in July 2021, Indian government dismissed Pakistan's invitation to hold talks, declaring that "Peace, prosperity can't coexist with terrorism".

   On 16 October 2024, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to talk about issues at the SCO Summit dinner in Islamabad.

Response to natural calamities;

2001 Gujarat earthquake in India
After the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, Pakistani President Pervez Mushrraf dispatched an airplane full of relief material from Islamabad to Ahmedabad. They had 200 tents and over 2,000 blankets. In addition, the President telephoned Indian PM to offer his 'sympathy' on the destruction caused by the earthquake.

2005 earthquake in Pakistan;

India promised assistance to Pakistan following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake on 8 October. Indian and Pakistani High Commissioners met to discuss cooperation in relief activities. India dispatched 25 tonnes of relief material to Pakistan such as food, blankets and medicine. Indian business giants like Infosys provided relief to the tune of $226,000. On 12 October, an Ilyushin-76 cargo plane transported seven truckloads (approximately 82 tons) of medicines of the Red Army, 15,000 blankets and 50 tents and flew back to New Delhi. A top air force official also said that they had been instructed by the Indian government to be prepared to fly out another such consignment. 
On 14 October, India sent the second shipment of relief material to Pakistan, by rail via the Wagah Border. The shipment consisted of 5,000 blankets, 370 tents, 5 tons of plastic sheets and 12 tons of medicine. A third shipment of medicine and relief supplies was also dispatched soon after by train. India also committed $25 million as assistance to Pakistan. India opened the first of three points at Chakan Da Bagh, in Poonch, on the Line of Control between India and Pakistan for earthquake relief operations.

2022 Pakistan floods;

During the 2022 Pakistan floods, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his "heartfelt condolences to families of the victims". Up to 30 August, the government of India is said to be contemplating the provision of relief assistance to Pakistan.

Economic relations;

India and Pakistan have restricted formal trade; the region of South Asia, the home of the two nations, is the most economically segregated part of the world, with the internal trade taking up only 5% of its total trade. Yet bilateral informal trade amounting to some $10 billion exists, whereby the majority of the products are imported by Pakistan

Bilateral maritime trade has been suspended in the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict.

Social relations;

Organisational ties;

Both India and Pakistan are members of both the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Commonwealth of Nations. The SAARC membership first served to get the two nations to some common agreements, e.g., the simplification of visa availability for each other, while at the beginning of independence, the reason both nations were in the Commonwealth was presumably to avoid the British leaning toward the other nation. Later SAARC became dormant primarily because of the stalemate between the two countries, and ever since the 2025 Pahalgam attack, India withdrew SAARC visa facilities for Pakistani citizens.

Aman ki Asha is a collaborative effort and initiative of The Times of India and the Jang Group initiated in 2010 with a call for peace and progress of diplomatic and cultural ties.

Cultural links;

India and Pakistan, North India and East Pakistan to a certain extent share similar cultures, cuisines and languages because of shared Indo-Aryan heritage running across the two nations and across much of the northern subcontinent which also underlie the historic connections between the two. Pakistani artists, musicians, comedians and entertainers have found popularity across India with many becoming overnight sensations in Indian film industry Bollywood. Similarly, Indian music and cinema are extremely popular in Pakistan. As it is situated in the northernmost part of South Asia, the culture of Pakistan is a bit akin to that of North India, particularly the northwest.

The Punjab province was divided into Punjab, Pakistan and Punjab, India after the two nations became independent and were partitioned in 1947. The Punjabi nation is now the biggest ethnic nation of Pakistan and also a significant ethnic nation of northern India. Sikhism's founder was born in the contemporary Pakistani Punjab province, in Nankana Sahib city. Every year, millions of Indian Sikh pilgrims cross into Nankana Sahib to visit sacred Sikh shrines. The Sindhis are the indigenous ethnic group of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Numerous Hindu Sindhis crossed over to India in 1947 and today reside in their numbers in India. Besides, the millions of Muslims who had emigrated from India to the newly formed Pakistan at independence were referred to as the Muhajir people; they settled mostly in Karachi and yet retain family connections in India.

Contacts between Pakistan and India have also resumed through mechanisms like media and communications.

Geographic connections;

The India–Pakistan border is the international border officially marking the Indian states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat from the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh. Wagah border is the sole road crossing between Pakistan and India and is situated on the historic Grand Trunk Road, linking Lahore, Pakistan to Amritsar, India. Every night, there is the Wagah–Attari border ceremony, where the flags are brought down and guards on both sides put on a pompous military show and exchange handshakes.

Linguistic ties;

Hindustani is the lingua franca of Pakistan and North India and the official language of both countries, in the forms standard registers Hindi and Urdu, respectively. Standard Urdu is intelligible with standard Hindi. Hindustani is also used and understood widely as a lingua franca among South Asians such as Sri Lankans, Nepalis and Bangladeshis, and is the language of Bollywood, which is popular throughout most of the subcontinent.
Besides Hindustani, India and Pakistan are also bound by a spread of Punjabi language (Gurmukhi script in Indian Punjab, and Shahmukhi script in Pakistani Punjab), Kashmiri language, and Sindhi language, primarily because of population transfer. These languages are all members of a common Indo-Aryan family spoken in nations of the subcontinent.

Matrimonial bonds;

Certain Indian and Pakistani individuals get married across the border at times. Most Indians and Pakistanis in the diaspora, particularly in the United States, intermarry because there are considerable cultural affinities between the two nations respectively.
In April 2010 a top Pakistani cricketer, Shoaib Malik wedded the Indian tennis star Sania Mirza.The wedding made headlines in the media and was reported to enthrall both India and Pakistan.

Sporting relations;

Cricket and hockey matches between them (along with other sports to a lesser extent such as those of the SAARC/South Asian Games) have frequently been political in nature. In the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan General Zia-ul Haq went to India for a bout of "cricket diplomacy" to prevent India from supporting the Soviets by opening another front. Pervez Musharaff also attempted to do the same over a decade later but in vain.

After the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, India ceased playing bilateral cricket series against Pakistan. The Indian team has played against them only in ICC and Asian Cricket Council competitions like the Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup, Asia Cup and ICC Champions Trophy ever since. In 2017, then Indian Sports Minister Vijay Goel had refused further bilateral series because of the alleged support given by Pakistan to terrorism, as "there cannot be sports relations between the two countries [when] there is terrorism from the Pakistani side."
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also had rejected any further series without approval from the Indian government. The BCCI also refused permission to Pakistani players to feature in the Indian Premier League in the wake of the 2008 terrorist attack, though they played in the initial season.
Both countries also have some of the same classic games like kabaddi and kho kho. In tennis, Indian Rohan Bopanna and Pakistani Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi have proved to be a winning combination and have been referred to as the "Indo-Pak Express".

Diasporic relations;

The extensive size of the Indian diaspora and Pakistani diaspora in numerous various countries around the globe has generated robust diasporic ties. It is not unusual for a "Little India" and a "Little Pakistan" to exist side by side in South Asian ethnic enclaves in foreign nations.
British Indians and British Pakistanis, the biggest and second-largest ethnic minorities residing in the United Kingdom respectively, are reported to have cordial relations with each other. There are different cities like Birmingham, Blackburn and Manchester where British Indians and British Pakistanis coexist in harmony and peace. Both Indians and Pakistanis residing in the UK come under the bracket of British Asian. The UK also hosts the Pakistan & India friendship forum.Indian and Pakistani Americans in the United States are grouped into the South Asian American category and have many cultural similarities, with intermarriage being prevalent.
The British MEP Sajjad Karim has Pakistani origin. He is a member of European Parliament Friends of India Group, Karim also spearheaded the opening up of Europe to open trade with India. He escaped narrowly the Mumbai attacks in Hotel Taj in November 2008. Although despite the brutality, Karim does not want the remaining assassin Ajmal Kasab to be sentenced to death. He stated: "I think he had a transparent and fair trial and I agree with the guilty verdict. But I do not believe in capital punishment. I think he should be given a life sentence, but life should mean life."