India and Pakistan are neighbouring South Asian states created by the partition of British India in 1947. They have fought four wars, dispute the status of Kashmir, and hold no formal peace talks as of August 2026.
This article sets out the record in date order. Where the two governments describe the same event differently, both descriptions are given and attributed, because on most contested points no single agreed account exists.
India-Pakistan Relations Timeline
The table below lists the events that shaped the relationship, with the date of each and its recorded outcome.
| Date | Event | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 14 and 15 August 1947 | Partition of British India creates Pakistan and India | Mass migration and communal violence across Punjab and Bengal |
| October 1947 to January 1949 | First war over Kashmir | Ceasefire on 1 January 1949 and a ceasefire line across the territory |
| 13 August 1948 and 5 January 1949 | United Nations Commission resolutions on Kashmir | A staged plan of ceasefire, withdrawal and plebiscite, never completed |
| 19 September 1960 | Indus Waters Treaty signed at Karachi | Six rivers of the Indus basin divided between the two countries |
| August and September 1965 | Second war, fought in Kashmir and Punjab | Ceasefire on 23 September 1965 after United Nations Security Council calls |
| 10 January 1966 | Tashkent Declaration | Forces returned to pre-war positions |
| 3 to 16 December 1971 | Third war, alongside the conflict in East Pakistan | Surrender at Dhaka and the creation of Bangladesh |
| 2 July 1972 | Simla Agreement | Ceasefire line renamed the Line of Control, bilateral settlement agreed |
| 11, 13, 28 and 30 May 1998 | Nuclear tests by India and then by Pakistan | Both countries declared nuclear weapon capability |
| 21 February 1999 | Lahore Declaration | Agreement on nuclear risk reduction and dialogue |
| May to July 1999 | Kargil conflict | Withdrawal from positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control |
| 14 to 16 July 2001 | Agra summit | Ended without a joint declaration |
| 26 November 2003 | Ceasefire along the Line of Control | Firing largely stopped for several years |
| 26 to 29 November 2008 | Mumbai attacks | The composite dialogue was suspended |
| 14 and 26 February 2019 | Pulwama attack and Balakot air strike | Aerial engagement, a captured Indian pilot, returned on 1 March 2019 |
| 5 August 2019 | India revokes Article 370 | Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties and suspended trade |
| 25 February 2021 | Ceasefire renewed by the two directors general of military operations | Firing along the Line of Control fell sharply |
| 22 April 2025 | Pahalgam attack kills 26 people | India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan closed its airspace and trade |
| 7 to 10 May 2025 | Four days of strikes and counter-strikes | Ceasefire announced on 10 May 2025 |
| 15 May 2026 | Permanent Court of Arbitration award on the Indus system | Pakistan accepted the award, India rejected it as void |
How Did Partition Shape India-Pakistan Relations?
Partition divided British India into two dominions in August 1947, with Pakistan observing 14 August and India observing 15 August. The Radcliffe Commission drew the boundary and it was published after the transfer of power, cutting through Punjab and Bengal.
The division set off one of the largest forced migrations on record. Estimates of the displaced run from about 12 million in Punjab alone to about 20 million across the subcontinent. Estimates of the dead run from 200,000 to two million, and historians have not converged on a figure because no count was taken at the time. Communities on both sides of the new border suffered killings, abductions and property loss.
Partition also left the princely states to choose a dominion, and most chose quickly. Jammu and Kashmir did not, and that unsettled choice became the longest running dispute between the two states. Pakistan’s position at the meeting point of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East is covered in the article on the geographical importance of Pakistan.
What Wars Have India and Pakistan Fought?
India and Pakistan have fought four wars: 1947 to 1948, 1965, 1971, and the Kargil conflict of 1999. Each is described below with its dates and its outcome.
The War of 1947 to 1948
Fighting began in October 1947 in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. India said the ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, signed an Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947 and that Indian troops entered at his request. Pakistan said the accession was obtained after tribal fighters and a local revolt had already changed the position on the ground, and that the state’s Muslim majority was never consulted. India referred the matter to the United Nations Security Council in January 1948. A ceasefire took effect on 1 January 1949 and left a ceasefire line that still separates the two administrations.
The War of 1965
The second war followed clashes in the Rann of Kutch and in Kashmir and grew into full fighting in Kashmir and Punjab in August and September 1965. India said Pakistan had sent infiltrators into Indian-administered Kashmir under a plan named Operation Gibraltar. Pakistan said Indian forces crossed the international border towards Lahore on 6 September, the date Pakistan marks each year as Defence Day, and Pakistan’s account of that war is set out in the article on the Defence Day of Pakistan. Both governments claimed the advantage when the Security Council secured a ceasefire on 23 September 1965. The Tashkent Declaration of 10 January 1966, mediated by the Soviet Union, returned forces to their pre-war positions.
The War of 1971
The third war grew out of a political crisis in East Pakistan. The Awami League won a majority in the general election of December 1970, the transfer of power did not follow, and the Pakistan Army began a military operation in East Pakistan in March 1971. Millions of refugees crossed into India. India said it acted on humanitarian grounds and in response to Pakistani air strikes on 3 December 1971. Pakistan said India had armed and trained the Mukti Bahini and had intervened in Pakistan’s internal affairs. The Pakistan Eastern Command surrendered at Dhaka on 16 December 1971, about 93,000 Pakistani personnel and civilians were taken prisoner and later repatriated, and East Pakistan became Bangladesh.
The Kargil Conflict of 1999
Fighting broke out in the Kargil sector of the Line of Control in May 1999, three months after the Lahore Declaration was signed, when armed men occupied high ground on the Indian side of the line. India said they were Pakistani regular soldiers of the Northern Light Infantry. Pakistan said at the time that they were Kashmiri fighters, and later Pakistani accounts, including official recognition of soldiers killed there, acknowledged the participation of Pakistani troops. The positions were vacated by July 1999, and neither government declared war.
What Is the Kashmir Dispute?
Kashmir is a Himalayan territory claimed in full by both India and Pakistan and administered in parts by each. India administers Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Pakistan administers Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and China administers Aksai Chin and the Shaksgam tract. The Line of Control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas, and each government uses a different name for the area the other administers.
India’s stated position is that the whole of the former princely state is an integral part of India, that the accession of 1947 was legal and final, and that any remaining issue is bilateral under the Simla Agreement. Pakistan’s stated position is that the territory is disputed, that its final status is unresolved, and that the United Nations Commission resolutions of 13 August 1948 and 5 January 1949 provide for its people to decide through a plebiscite. Those resolutions set out a sequence beginning with the withdrawal of forces, a sequence never completed, and each government says the other failed to carry out its part. Political parties inside Kashmir hold further positions of their own, including accession to either country and independence.
On 5 August 2019 the Indian government revoked Article 370 of its constitution, which had given Jammu and Kashmir a special status, and divided the state into two union territories. India said the step was an internal constitutional matter meant to extend national laws and speed development. Pakistan rejected it as a unilateral change to a disputed territory, expelled the Indian High Commissioner, suspended bilateral trade and raised the matter at the United Nations. India’s Supreme Court upheld the revocation on 11 December 2023 and directed that statehood be restored, and assembly elections followed in 2024. Pakistan said the ruling had no bearing on a disputed territory.
What Is the Status of the Indus Waters Treaty?
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed at Karachi on 19 September 1960 by India, Pakistan and the World Bank. It gave India the use of the three eastern rivers, the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, and Pakistan the use of the three western rivers, the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, while allowing India limited non-consumptive use of the western rivers upstream. It operated through the wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999.
India placed the treaty in abeyance on 23 April 2025, the day after the Pahalgam attack, and said it would stay in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures support for cross-border terrorism. Pakistan said the treaty contains no provision allowing one party to suspend it, and that stopping or diverting the western rivers would be treated as an act of war.
The disagreement moved to arbitration. The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague issued an award in August 2025 and a further award on maximum pondage on 15 May 2026, and stated that the treaty remains in force and cannot be suspended by one party alone. Pakistan accepted the awards. India did not take part, describes the tribunal as illegally constituted, treats its awards as void, and has paused Permanent Indus Commission meetings and data sharing. In June 2026 Pakistan’s Foreign Office objected to an Indian plan to transfer Chenab water into the Beas basin, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar wrote to the United Nations Security Council. India has said its projects are permitted uses under the treaty.
How Did Both Countries Become Nuclear Powers?
India tested a nuclear device on 18 May 1974 and described it as a peaceful nuclear explosion. India tested again at Pokhran on 11 and 13 May 1998 and declared itself a nuclear weapon state. Pakistan tested at Chagai in Balochistan on 28 and 30 May 1998. The sequence of Pakistan’s programme is set out in the article on how Pakistan became a nuclear power.
India states a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons. Pakistan has not adopted a no first use policy and describes its posture as full spectrum deterrence. Both governments describe their arsenals as defensive. The two countries also hold an agreement signed on 31 December 1988 that prohibits attacks on each other’s nuclear installations, and under it they exchange lists of those installations at the start of each January. That exchange has taken place every year since 1992, through every crisis in the period.
When Have India and Pakistan Held Talks?
Periods of dialogue have alternated with periods of crisis. The main episodes are listed below in date order.
- Tashkent, January 1966. Soviet mediation after the 1965 war returned both sides to their pre-war positions.
- Simla, July 1972. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indira Gandhi agreed to settle differences bilaterally and renamed the ceasefire line the Line of Control.
- Lahore, February 1999. Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed the Lahore Declaration with Nawaz Sharif on nuclear risk reduction and further talks.
- Agra, July 2001. Pervez Musharraf and Vajpayee met for two days and issued no joint declaration.
- Composite dialogue, 2004 to 2008. Eight subjects including Kashmir and Siachen were negotiated and a bus service crossed the Line of Control from 2005, until the Mumbai attacks of November 2008 suspended the process.
- Ceasefire understandings, November 2003 and February 2021. The 2003 understanding held for years, and the two directors general of military operations renewed it on 25 February 2021, after which firing fell sharply.
- Kartarpur Corridor, November 2019. A visa-free crossing for Sikh pilgrims opened months after that year’s wider breakdown.
What Happened in February 2019?
A suicide bombing at Pulwama in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel on 14 February 2019, and Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility. India said Pakistan had a hand in the attack. Pakistan denied involvement and offered to act on evidence provided.
Indian aircraft struck a site near Balakot inside Pakistan on 26 February 2019. India said the strike destroyed a militant training camp and killed a large number of fighters. Pakistan said the aircraft released their payload on an empty hillside and caused no casualties, and journalists and satellite analysts who examined the site reported no visible damage matching India’s account. Aircraft of both air forces engaged the next day, Pakistan captured an Indian pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, and returned him on 1 March 2019. Each air force claimed to have downed aircraft of the other, and those claims were never reconciled.
What Happened in the May 2025 Conflict?
Gunmen killed 26 civilians at Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on 22 April 2025. A group calling itself The Resistance Front claimed the attack online and later disowned the claim. India said Pakistan supported the attackers and described the group as an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Pakistan denied involvement, called for an independent international investigation and said the attack was being used as a pretext.
Both governments acted within days. India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, cancelled visas for Pakistani nationals and closed the Attari-Wagah crossing. Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian airlines, suspended bilateral trade and said it could hold bilateral agreements including the Simla Agreement in abeyance.
India launched strikes it named Operation Sindoor early on 7 May 2025 against nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India said the targets were militant infrastructure and that the strikes avoided Pakistani military facilities. Pakistan said civilian areas including a mosque were hit and that civilians were among the dead. Drone, missile and artillery exchanges followed, and Pakistan launched its own operation, Bunyan-un-Marsoos, on 10 May 2025 against Indian military installations.
The fighting stopped that same day. United States President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire and said the United States had mediated it, and Pakistan credited that mediation. India said the understanding was reached directly between the two directors general of military operations and rejected the description of third-party mediation. Each side stated different casualty totals.
Air losses are the most contested part of the episode. Pakistan said it downed six Indian aircraft, and a Pakistan Air Force official later put the figure at eight, including four Rafales, while saying Pakistan lost none. India rejected that count, and India’s air chief said in August 2025 that India had downed five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft. Pakistan rejects that figure in turn, and no agreed independent tally has been published.
Where Do India-Pakistan Relations Stand in 2026?
The ceasefire agreed on 10 May 2025 has broadly held into 2026, and the Council on Foreign Relations recorded the conflict as unchanged in its tracker update of 3 August 2026. Violations along the Line of Control have continued to be reported, and both militaries remain on alert. Formal relations remain reduced: diplomatic missions operate below high commissioner level, bilateral trade is suspended, airspace stays closed to each other’s airlines, and no formal peace process exists. Routine treaty obligations continue in parallel, and the two governments exchanged lists of nuclear installations and of civilian prisoners and fishermen in the first days of January 2026.
Two threads run through 2026. Water is the first. India maintains that the Indus Waters Treaty is in abeyance, Pakistan maintains that it remains in force, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has ruled that it cannot be suspended unilaterally, and India rejects that court. Contact away from public view is the second. Al Jazeera reported in May 2026 that former officials, retired officers and parliamentarians from both countries had met several times over the preceding year in Muscat, Doha, Thailand and London. Neither government has announced a resumption of official talks. Elections to the legislative assembly in Pakistan-administered Kashmir were held in July and August 2026, and each government read the vote through its own position on the territory’s status.
Reporting on the most recent events remains incomplete in places, and several claims from the 2025 fighting have never been verified by any independent party. Where that applies, this article names the claim and the party making it rather than settling the question.
FAQs About India-Pakistan Relations
How many wars have India and Pakistan fought?
India and Pakistan have fought four wars: 1947 to 1948, 1965, 1971 and the Kargil conflict of 1999. They also fought a four-day exchange in May 2025 that neither government called a war.
What is the Kashmir dispute?
Kashmir is a Himalayan territory claimed in full by both India and Pakistan and divided between them by the Line of Control. India calls it an integral part of India. Pakistan calls its status unresolved.
What happened between India and Pakistan in May 2025?
India struck sites in Pakistan on 7 May 2025 after the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan struck Indian installations in reply. Four days of exchanges ended in a ceasefire on 10 May 2025.
Is the India-Pakistan border open?
Not for general traffic. India closed the Attari-Wagah crossing in April 2025, both countries closed their airspace to each other’s airlines, and bilateral trade remains suspended in August 2026.
What is the Indus Waters Treaty?
The Indus Waters Treaty is a 1960 agreement brokered by the World Bank that divides the Indus basin rivers. India placed it in abeyance in April 2025. Pakistan says no party can suspend it alone.
Last Thoughts on India-Pakistan Relations
The record between India and Pakistan holds four wars, one territorial dispute running since 1947, several negotiated agreements that held for years, and repeated breakdowns. Both states are nuclear armed, both claim Kashmir in full, and both describe the same events in different terms. The Indus Waters Treaty, which survived three wars, is now the point where the two positions sit furthest apart. As of August 2026 the ceasefire of May 2025 holds and no formal talks are scheduled.
