India–Pakistan wars and conflicts

The wars, military crises, and armed confrontations between India and Pakistan since the 1947 partition of British India, shaped especially by disputes over Kashmir.

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Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948: The first war between India and Pakistan, fought in Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It established the ceasefire line that divided Kashmir after partition.
Kashmir conflict: A territorial and political dispute over Kashmir, claimed in whole or in part by India and Pakistan. Competing claims over Kashmir have been the most persistent cause of war between the two states.
Partition of India: The 1947 division of British India into the independent states of India and Pakistan, accompanied by mass displacement and violence. The new border and rival national projects formed the setting for bilateral conflict.
Bangladesh Liberation War: The 1971 struggle that ended in the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan. India's intervention in this liberation struggle became the decisive theater of the 1971 war.
Siachen conflict: A military confrontation between India and Pakistan over the Siachen Glacier, beginning with India's 1984 occupation of key heights. It is a distinct, continuing high-altitude confrontation rather than one of the conventional wars.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965: A full-scale war between India and Pakistan in 1965, fought primarily over Kashmir. It became the largest conventional war between the two states before 1971.
Line of Control: The de facto military boundary dividing Indian- and Pakistani-administered parts of Kashmir. Its contested status creates recurring opportunities for firing, infiltration, and escalation.
Princely states of British India: Semi-autonomous territories under British paramountcy whose rulers faced accession to India or Pakistan in 1947. Jammu and Kashmir's contested accession turned partition into an interstate territorial dispute.
Simla Agreement: The 1972 agreement in which India and Pakistan committed to resolving disputes peacefully and respecting the Line of Control. It reframed the post-1971 Kashmir ceasefire line as a bilateral military boundary.
Kashmir insurgency: An armed uprising against Indian rule in Indian-administered Kashmir that began in 1989. It is an internal insurgency with cross-border dimensions, not itself a war between states.