History Illustrated is a series of perspectives that puts news events and current affairs into historical context using graphics generated with artificial intelligence.
Three out of four wars that India and Pakistan have fought since 1947 have been over Kashmir. And the two nuclear powers were again on the cusp of a major confrontation. India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in full. And that’s a problem.
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On April 22, an attack in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir, killed 26 tourists. India accused Pakistan of being involved; Pakistan denied it. Pakistan then warned that India was mobilising for an imminent attack.
Britain’s partition of India and consequent creation of Pakistan in 1947 led to a humanitarian crisis. Two months after the British left, Pakistan and India fought their first war over Kashmir. Then, in 1949, the warring sides agreed to the creation of a ceasefire line that divided Kashmir.
In 1965, forces along the ceasefire line started shooting at each other, leading to Pakistani soldiers crossing into Indian-administered Kashmir, while India sent forces into Lahore, Pakistan. In six weeks, more than 5,000 soldiers were killed before the United Nations Security Council helped end the fighting.
The third and most recent war over Kashmir happened in 1999, as the Pakistani military crossed the de facto border in Kashmir, known as the Line of Control (LoC), into the mountainous Kargil area before Indian troops pushed them back, ending what has been called “the world’s highest war”.
There have also been contained confrontations. For instance, on September 18, 2016, armed fighters attacked an Indian army base in Uri, in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing 17 soldiers.
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India responded to the Uri attack by crossing the LoC to carry out so-called “surgical strikes” on what it said were staging areas for “terrorists”.
Similarly, in February 2019, a suicide bomber killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel in Pulwama in Indian-administered Kashmir. India then launched an aerial raid in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A day later, a dogfight ended in Pakistan, downing an Indian jet and capturing the pilot.
On May 7, India responded to the Pahalgam attack with missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Pakistan, in turn, said it shot down Indian jets. Both sides also turned the LoC into a shooting gallery. After more military confrontations, a ceasefire brokered by the United States on May 10 seems to be holding, with India and Pakistan controlling what happens next.
