In the early hours following the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 civilian lives, India launched Operation Sindoor, a swift cross-border assault on nine suspected militant camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). Within 25 minutes, missiles and precision-guided munitions struck training facilities that have long been identified as breeding grounds for extremist networks—inclusive of the very site linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. But this latest escalation is only the most recent chapter in a protracted saga of armed confrontations between India and Pakistan, two nations born of partition in 1947 and forever entwined by the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Partition and First Kashmir War (1947–1949)
The seeds of conflict were sown even before the two states took shape. As British India dissolved, mass migrations and communal violence convulsed the subcontinent. In October 1947, tribal militias backed by Pakistan infiltrated the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting the Maharaja to accede to India in exchange for military aid. India airlifted troops into Srinagar, repelling the fighters but setting the stage for the First Indo-Pakistani War. Over the next 18 months, conventional clashes and artillery duels raged across the rugged terrain. A U.N.-brokered ceasefire in January 1949 froze the front line—later termed the Line of Control (LoC)—and left India in control of roughly two-thirds of Kashmir, with Pakistan holding the remainder.
Stalemate and Skirmishes (1950s–1960s)
The subsequent decade saw intermittent skirmishes along the LoC but no full-scale war, even as diplomatic relations remained frigid. Both sides fortified their positions; trenches, bunkers and minefields soon scarred the mountainous frontier. In the backdrop of Cold War rivalries, India received Soviet weaponry while Pakistan cultivated ties with the United States and China, further entrenching divisions. Localized exchanges of fire, mass shelling of frontier villages and periodic infiltration attempts by militants became part of everyday life for border communities.
Second Indo-Pak War (1965)
Hostilities flared again in August 1965, when Pakistan launched Operation Gibraltar—an audacious plan to infiltrate Kashmir with disguised guerrillas to incite rebellion. India’s robust counteroffensive extended beyond the Kashmir theater into Punjab’s plains, leading to pitched tank battles at Asal Uttar and extensive air combat. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, and while territorial gains were minimal, the ferocity of the fighting marked one of the war’s most intense episodes. The conflict ended in a UN-mandated ceasefire and the subsequent Tashkent Declaration, brokered by the Soviet Union and the United States, but bitterness persisted on both sides.
Bangladesh Liberation and 1971 War
In 1971, simmering tensions in Pakistan’s eastern wing boiled over into civil war. West Pakistani forces’ crackdown on Bengali nationalists triggered a massive humanitarian crisis that saw millions flee to India. New Delhi intervened militarily in support of the Bangladeshi independence movement—codenamed Operation Chengiz Khan by Pakistan—opening fronts on both eastern and western fronts. Indian naval units blockaded East Pakistani ports, while army units advanced rapidly toward Dhaka. The Pakistani military surrendered on December 16, 1971, leading to the birth of Bangladesh and marking India’s most decisive victory over its western neighbor.
Tension and Proxy Warfare (1972–1998)
The 1972 Shimla Agreement aimed to normalize ties, with both parties pledging to resolve disputes bilaterally. Yet, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Pakistan’s support for insurgent groups in Kashmir fueled a violent insurgency that claimed thousands of lives. India responded with sweeping counterinsurgency operations, aided by the creation of dedicated security forces such as the Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force. Low-intensity conflicts persisted along the LoC, with infiltrations, ambushes and terror strikes that kept bilateral relations at a near-freeze.
Kargil Conflict (1999)
The Kargil War stands out as one of the most dramatic aerial and artillery duels in the subcontinent’s history. In May 1999, Pakistani soldiers and militants occupied strategic mountain peaks on India’s side of the LoC in the Kargil district. India launched Operation Vijay, airlifting troops and conducting sustained artillery barrages to reclaim the high-altitude positions. After weeks of brutal fighting in sub-zero temperatures, India regained most territories by late July. The conflict—fought under the nuclear shadow—heightened fears of escalation but ultimately ended with Pakistan’s withdrawal, facilitated by U.S. diplomatic pressure.
2001–2008: Escalation and Peace Overtures
The early 2000s began with hope, as summit diplomacy between Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf led to ceasefire agreements and confidence-building measures. Yet peace efforts were shattered by the December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Both countries mobilized troops along the border, bringing them to the brink of war. International mediation defused the crisis, but mutual suspicion deepened.
2016 Uri Attack and Surgical Strikes
On September 18, 2016, militants struck an army base in Uri, killing 19 soldiers. In response, India announced “surgical strikes” against terrorist launch pads in POK—covert operations targeting militant infrastructure across the LoC. Though Pakistan denied the incursions, India’s government provided satellite imagery and video footage as evidence. The strikes signified a departure from strictly defensive postures and underscored a willingness to cross the de facto border for counterterror operations.
2019 Pulwama Attack and Balakot Air Strikes
The February 2019 suicide bombing in Pulwama claimed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. Within days, India carried out its first airstrike deep inside Pakistani territory since 1971, targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Balakot. Pakistani jets retaliated, leading to an aerial skirmish in which an Indian pilot was captured and later returned. While neither side admitted significant losses, the episode marked the first direct use of air power between the nuclear-armed neighbors in nearly five decades.
Incremental Ceasefire and Ongoing Clashes (2020–2024)
In early 2021, both countries agreed to a new LoC ceasefire, which largely held at a ‘local ceasefire’ level, reducing civilian and military casualties. Nevertheless, occasional cross-border shelling, sniper fire and infiltration attempts continued. Both armies have enhanced surveillance and built fortified posts, transforming once fluid frontiers into heavily monitored zones. Meanwhile, back-channel diplomacy and track-two dialogues have aimed to sustain de-escalation even as political rhetoric in both capitals remains hawkish.
Operation Sindoor and Today’s Flashpoint (2025)
Against this backdrop of historical hostility, Operation Sindoor represents the most forceful strike in recent memory. Launched swiftly after the Pahalgam atrocity in May 2025, the 25-minute missile barrage targeted nine terror camps across POK and Pakistan’s heartland. Indian military spokespeople described the operation as a “preemptive defensive action” designed to dismantle training infrastructure and disrupt planned attacks. Reports indicate over 80 militants were killed, including operatives linked to past high-profile incidents.
With that strike, India underscored a doctrine of “no tolerance” toward cross-border terrorism—echoing surgical-strike tactics first publicly claimed in 2016, but on a larger scale. Pakistan’s military initially condemned the action as a violation of sovereignty and vowed retaliation, though it has so far limited itself to diplomatic protests and routine LoC exchanges.
A Fractured Peace Path
From 1947’s first tanks rumbling through the Kashmir Valley to modern precision-guided missiles, the India–Pakistan rivalry has evolved in form but remained stubbornly persistent in substance. Territorial claims over Jammu and Kashmir remain the core grievance, but successive wars, proxy conflicts and terror incidents have layered extra complexity onto an already fraught relationship.
International efforts to broker durable peace—through the United Nations, bilateral summits or third-party mediation—have yielded temporary truces but never fully resolved the underlying dispute. With military capabilities both conventional and nuclear parity, each escalation carries the specter of far more severe consequences.
Operation Sindoor’s rapid execution and its explicit targeting of terror infrastructure may further ratchet tensions. Yet it also reflects New Delhi’s calculation that targeted, high-impact strikes can achieve strategic deterrence while avoiding full-scale war. Pakistan’s muted public response suggests a cautious approach to avoid uncontrollable escalation.
As the subcontinent enters another uneasy lull, both nations face the enduring challenge: translating sporadic ceasefires and punitive operations into a stable, long-term security framework. Decades of clashes have left deep scars, but absent a substantive political dialogue on Kashmir, each flashpoint—from Kargil to Balakot to Sindoor—may simply be a prelude to the next confrontation.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
Partition and First Kashmir War (1947–1949)
The seeds of conflict were sown even before the two states took shape. As British India dissolved, mass migrations and communal violence convulsed the subcontinent. In October 1947, tribal militias backed by Pakistan infiltrated the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting the Maharaja to accede to India in exchange for military aid. India airlifted troops into Srinagar, repelling the fighters but setting the stage for the First Indo-Pakistani War. Over the next 18 months, conventional clashes and artillery duels raged across the rugged terrain. A U.N.-brokered ceasefire in January 1949 froze the front line—later termed the Line of Control (LoC)—and left India in control of roughly two-thirds of Kashmir, with Pakistan holding the remainder.
Stalemate and Skirmishes (1950s–1960s)
The subsequent decade saw intermittent skirmishes along the LoC but no full-scale war, even as diplomatic relations remained frigid. Both sides fortified their positions; trenches, bunkers and minefields soon scarred the mountainous frontier. In the backdrop of Cold War rivalries, India received Soviet weaponry while Pakistan cultivated ties with the United States and China, further entrenching divisions. Localized exchanges of fire, mass shelling of frontier villages and periodic infiltration attempts by militants became part of everyday life for border communities.
Second Indo-Pak War (1965)
Hostilities flared again in August 1965, when Pakistan launched Operation Gibraltar—an audacious plan to infiltrate Kashmir with disguised guerrillas to incite rebellion. India’s robust counteroffensive extended beyond the Kashmir theater into Punjab’s plains, leading to pitched tank battles at Asal Uttar and extensive air combat. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, and while territorial gains were minimal, the ferocity of the fighting marked one of the war’s most intense episodes. The conflict ended in a UN-mandated ceasefire and the subsequent Tashkent Declaration, brokered by the Soviet Union and the United States, but bitterness persisted on both sides.
Bangladesh Liberation and 1971 War
In 1971, simmering tensions in Pakistan’s eastern wing boiled over into civil war. West Pakistani forces’ crackdown on Bengali nationalists triggered a massive humanitarian crisis that saw millions flee to India. New Delhi intervened militarily in support of the Bangladeshi independence movement—codenamed Operation Chengiz Khan by Pakistan—opening fronts on both eastern and western fronts. Indian naval units blockaded East Pakistani ports, while army units advanced rapidly toward Dhaka. The Pakistani military surrendered on December 16, 1971, leading to the birth of Bangladesh and marking India’s most decisive victory over its western neighbor.
Tension and Proxy Warfare (1972–1998)
The 1972 Shimla Agreement aimed to normalize ties, with both parties pledging to resolve disputes bilaterally. Yet, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Pakistan’s support for insurgent groups in Kashmir fueled a violent insurgency that claimed thousands of lives. India responded with sweeping counterinsurgency operations, aided by the creation of dedicated security forces such as the Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force. Low-intensity conflicts persisted along the LoC, with infiltrations, ambushes and terror strikes that kept bilateral relations at a near-freeze.
Kargil Conflict (1999)
The Kargil War stands out as one of the most dramatic aerial and artillery duels in the subcontinent’s history. In May 1999, Pakistani soldiers and militants occupied strategic mountain peaks on India’s side of the LoC in the Kargil district. India launched Operation Vijay, airlifting troops and conducting sustained artillery barrages to reclaim the high-altitude positions. After weeks of brutal fighting in sub-zero temperatures, India regained most territories by late July. The conflict—fought under the nuclear shadow—heightened fears of escalation but ultimately ended with Pakistan’s withdrawal, facilitated by U.S. diplomatic pressure.
2001–2008: Escalation and Peace Overtures
The early 2000s began with hope, as summit diplomacy between Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf led to ceasefire agreements and confidence-building measures. Yet peace efforts were shattered by the December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Both countries mobilized troops along the border, bringing them to the brink of war. International mediation defused the crisis, but mutual suspicion deepened.
2016 Uri Attack and Surgical Strikes
On September 18, 2016, militants struck an army base in Uri, killing 19 soldiers. In response, India announced “surgical strikes” against terrorist launch pads in POK—covert operations targeting militant infrastructure across the LoC. Though Pakistan denied the incursions, India’s government provided satellite imagery and video footage as evidence. The strikes signified a departure from strictly defensive postures and underscored a willingness to cross the de facto border for counterterror operations.
2019 Pulwama Attack and Balakot Air Strikes
The February 2019 suicide bombing in Pulwama claimed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. Within days, India carried out its first airstrike deep inside Pakistani territory since 1971, targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Balakot. Pakistani jets retaliated, leading to an aerial skirmish in which an Indian pilot was captured and later returned. While neither side admitted significant losses, the episode marked the first direct use of air power between the nuclear-armed neighbors in nearly five decades.
Incremental Ceasefire and Ongoing Clashes (2020–2024)
In early 2021, both countries agreed to a new LoC ceasefire, which largely held at a ‘local ceasefire’ level, reducing civilian and military casualties. Nevertheless, occasional cross-border shelling, sniper fire and infiltration attempts continued. Both armies have enhanced surveillance and built fortified posts, transforming once fluid frontiers into heavily monitored zones. Meanwhile, back-channel diplomacy and track-two dialogues have aimed to sustain de-escalation even as political rhetoric in both capitals remains hawkish.
Operation Sindoor and Today’s Flashpoint (2025)
Against this backdrop of historical hostility, Operation Sindoor represents the most forceful strike in recent memory. Launched swiftly after the Pahalgam atrocity in May 2025, the 25-minute missile barrage targeted nine terror camps across POK and Pakistan’s heartland. Indian military spokespeople described the operation as a “preemptive defensive action” designed to dismantle training infrastructure and disrupt planned attacks. Reports indicate over 80 militants were killed, including operatives linked to past high-profile incidents.
With that strike, India underscored a doctrine of “no tolerance” toward cross-border terrorism—echoing surgical-strike tactics first publicly claimed in 2016, but on a larger scale. Pakistan’s military initially condemned the action as a violation of sovereignty and vowed retaliation, though it has so far limited itself to diplomatic protests and routine LoC exchanges.
A Fractured Peace Path
From 1947’s first tanks rumbling through the Kashmir Valley to modern precision-guided missiles, the India–Pakistan rivalry has evolved in form but remained stubbornly persistent in substance. Territorial claims over Jammu and Kashmir remain the core grievance, but successive wars, proxy conflicts and terror incidents have layered extra complexity onto an already fraught relationship.
International efforts to broker durable peace—through the United Nations, bilateral summits or third-party mediation—have yielded temporary truces but never fully resolved the underlying dispute. With military capabilities both conventional and nuclear parity, each escalation carries the specter of far more severe consequences.
Operation Sindoor’s rapid execution and its explicit targeting of terror infrastructure may further ratchet tensions. Yet it also reflects New Delhi’s calculation that targeted, high-impact strikes can achieve strategic deterrence while avoiding full-scale war. Pakistan’s muted public response suggests a cautious approach to avoid uncontrollable escalation.
As the subcontinent enters another uneasy lull, both nations face the enduring challenge: translating sporadic ceasefires and punitive operations into a stable, long-term security framework. Decades of clashes have left deep scars, but absent a substantive political dialogue on Kashmir, each flashpoint—from Kargil to Balakot to Sindoor—may simply be a prelude to the next confrontation.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
