Cause of the Indo-Pakistani War. Third Indo-Pakistani War

At the time of colonial domination, part of India was under the direct control of the British authorities, while the other was made up of native principalities that had their own rulers semi-autonomous from the British. In the course of granting independence (1947), Britain's "direct" possessions on the subcontinent were divided according to religious principles into two independent states - Hindu and Muslim (India and Pakistan). The native princes (whose number reached 600) received the right to independently decide whether to enter the first or second.

Indo-Pakistani War 1947-48. Movie 1

The Muslim Nawab (monarch) of the Grand Principality of Hyderabad in the center of India decided to join Pakistan. Then the Indian government in 1948 brought its troops into this principality, motivating their actions by the fact that there are many Hindus in Hyderabad. The opposite happened in Kashmir, populated mainly by Muslims and bordering on West Pakistan. His prince, himself a Hindu, announced his intention to annex his possession to India or become an independent sovereign. In October 1947, Pashtun tribes invaded Kashmir from Pakistani territory to prevent the transition of this area under the sovereignty of India. The ruler of Kashmir appealed to Delhi for help.

Indo-Pakistani War 1947-48. Movie 2

By 1948, the conflict in Kashmir had escalated into First Indo-Pakistani War. She turned out to be short-lived. In January 1949, an armistice agreement was signed. Thanks to the activities of the mediation commission of the UN Security Council, a ceasefire line was established in the summer of 1949, one part of which was recognized as an international border, and the other became the line of actual control (which was somewhat changed later as a result of second and third Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971). Northwestern Kashmir (more than a third of the entire region) was under the control of Pakistan. Subsequently, the Azad Kashmir (Free Kashmir) formation was created there, formally representing a free territory.

Partition of British India in 1947. Formation of independent India and Pakistan. The map shows the disputed territories - Hyderabad and Kashmir, as well as areas with a mixed Indo-Muslim population

Two-thirds of the former principality of Kashmir came under the rule of India. These lands were united with adjacent areas inhabited by Hindus, and made up the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Security Council in 1949 adopted a resolution to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir after the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from its northwestern part. But Pakistan refused to comply with the UN demands, and the plebiscite was thwarted. Through control of northwestern Kashmir, Pakistan gained a border with China. Here, in the 1970-1980s, the Karakoram Highway was laid, providing Pakistan with a connection with the PRC.

The Indo-Pakistani conflict over Kashmir has not been resolved. The Pakistani government has since seen India as its main enemy. Separatists remained in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, who opposed joining Pakistan or India and demanded the creation of an independent Kashmir state.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been tense for quite a long period of time due to a number of serious disagreements that arose almost immediately after they acquired the status of independent states.

In 1947, the partition of British India took place, which led to the creation of tension over the status of Kashmir and, as a result, to numerous military conflicts between the two countries. Even considering that these two states of South Asia share common geographical, historical, cultural and economic ties, their relationship is full of hostility and suspicion. The length of the state border between the countries is 2,912 km.

After the collapse of British India in 1947, new sovereign states were formed: the Indian Union and the Dominion of Pakistan. The partition of the former British India led to the forced relocation of up to 12.5 million people, from several hundred thousand to a million people died in the process. India became a Hindu-majority secular state, while Pakistan became a Muslim-majority Islamic state.

Shortly after independence, India and Pakistan established diplomatic relations, but a violent partition and numerous territorial disputes caused their relationship to deteriorate.

As a result, India and Pakistan have experienced three major wars, one undeclared war and have been involved in numerous armed skirmishes and confrontations. The issue of ownership of Kashmir (the Kashmir issue) is the main cause of all these conflicts, with the exception of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, which led to the secession of East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh).

Meanwhile, there have been numerous attempts to improve relations between India and Pakistan (Shimla Summit, Agra Summit and Lahore Summit).

Since the early 1980s, relations between the two countries have deteriorated further, especially after the conflict in Siachen (Siachen conflict), uprisings in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests, and the Kargil War.

At the same time, some confidence-building measures were taken: the signing of a ceasefire agreement in 2003, the launch of a bus on the Delhi-Lahore route. However, these efforts were thwarted by periodic terrorist attacks. In 2001, the Indian parliament was attacked, bringing the two countries to the brink of nuclear war. In 2007, the Samjhauta Express passenger train was blown up, killing several dozen civilians. In 2008, the Mumbai attack took place when Muslim terrorists killed some 160 Indian citizens in the attack, causing India to end peace talks with Pakistan.

The Indo-Pakistani conflict at the beginning of the 21st century was exacerbated by the fact that both states developed (or received from their patrons) nuclear weapons and are actively building up their military power. Today, the United States is supplying arms to Pakistan, and Russia is supplying arms to India.

In chronological terms, the Indo-Pakistani conflict - the confrontation between India and Pakistan, which has been ongoing since they gained independence in 1947 - is divided into several important stages:

First Indo-Pakistani War (First Kashmir War, 1947-1949);

Second Indo-Pakistani War (Second Kashmir War, 1965);

Third Indo-Pakistani War (1971), which is linked to the Bangladesh War of Independence;

Siachen conflict (since 1984) - a low-intensity border conflict on the Siachen glacier, a characteristic feature of which was that both sides suffered most of the losses not as a result of enemy actions, but from severe climatic conditions (since 2003, a ceasefire has been in effect on Siachen );

Kargil war (1999), which, unlike the three previous armed conflicts, was not of a large-scale nature.

The main reason for the Indo-Pakistani conflict is the dispute over the ownership of the Kashmir region. As a result of the war of 1947-1949. India gained control of approximately 2/3 of the region's territory, Pakistan gained control of approximately 1/3 of the region's territory. The Kashmir conflict led to tensions between the two countries, which have generally persisted to this day.

Unlike India, Pakistan considers the Kashmir conflict an international dispute and reserves the right to bring the issue up for discussion in international forums, allowing other states to mediate. He demands a plebiscite, referring to the relevant UN resolutions. Pakistan speaks of the impossibility of starting negotiations with India on any other issues without first resolving the Kashmir problem.

India, on the other hand, opposes the recognition of the Kashmir problem as an international dispute and rejects any possibility of a plebiscite. India's main demand is an end to "cross-border terrorism" - Pakistan's direct support of Muslim militants in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. India is in favor of the need to negotiate the Kashmir problem without necessarily linking it to all other bilateral disputes and claims (there are seven in total).

The First Indo-Pakistani War is an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that arose after the partition of British India.

The cause of the conflict was a dispute over the ownership of the principality of Jammu and Kashmir, where the Muslim population prevailed (therefore, it had to go to Pakistan), but the ruling elite consisted of Hindus and the Maharaja of Kashmir decided to join India.

During the partition of British India in August 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu, ruled Jammu and Kashmir, but 77% of his subjects were Muslims. In several districts of the principality, an uprising broke out against the Maharaja. Then, on October 21, 1947, the militia of the Pashtun tribes of the Afridis, Yusufzais and Masuds from the territory of Pakistan, and then the "Pakistani volunteers" invaded the principality to help the rebellious fellow Muslims.

On October 24, 1947, on the territory occupied by them, the creation of the sovereign formation of Azad Kashmir (“Free Kashmir”) and the entry of the entire principality into Pakistan were proclaimed. In response, Hari Singh announced the annexation of Kashmir to India and turned to the Indian government for military assistance.

Indian troops hastily sent to Kashmir stopped Pakistani troops near the capital of Kashmir - the city of Srinagar. Then, on October 28 - December 22, 1947, negotiations took place between India and Pakistan on the issue of ownership of Kashmir. In these negotiations, the parties recognized in principle the need for the free will of the people of Kashmir. However, hostilities were not suspended, and regular military units of Pakistan were soon involved in them. The fighting took on a protracted character and lasted for almost a year. These events are considered the first Indo-Pakistani war.

By January 1, 1949, hostilities were stopped, and in August 1949, under the control of the UN, a ceasefire line was drawn, dividing Kashmir into two parts - controlled, respectively, by India (60%) and Pakistan (40%). UN military observers arrived in the region.

Several UN resolutions (April 21 and August 13, 1948 and January 5, 1949) called on both sides to withdraw troops and hold a plebiscite, but neither India nor Pakistan wanted to withdraw their units, declaring the occupation of part of Kashmir by the opposite side. From the very beginning, the USSR considered Azad Kashmir to be an illegally occupied territory of India. The United States declared an "unresolved problem", but in fact supported Pakistan. In 1956, after the adoption of a law on the new administrative division of the country, India granted its Kashmir territories the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Srinagar remained the summer capital of the state, Jammu became the winter capital. The ceasefire line has become de facto the state border between India and Pakistan.

Of the territory of Kashmir under Pakistani control, most of the land was allocated to a special Agency for the Northern Territories as part of Pakistan with its capital in the city of Gilgit, and only 2169 square meters remained in Azad Kashmir. km. in the form of a narrow strip along the ceasefire line. Muzaffarabad became the seat of government of Azad Kashmir. Azad Kashmir has the status of a state associated with Pakistan. This quasi-state formation formally even has its own armed forces.

The possession of at least a part of Kashmir is of particular importance for Pakistan, since it cuts off India from direct access to the Central Asian region and Afghanistan, and Pakistan receives a common border with China.

After the Indo-Chinese war of 1962, the Pakistani leadership began negotiations with the PRC on the demarcation of the border in Kashmir. In 1963, after the signing of the Pakistani-Chinese border agreement, China gained what the Indians believe is part of Indian rightful territory, the Shaksgama Valley (in addition to the fact that China has occupied Aksai Chin, another part of Kashmir, since the early 1950s) .

After the first Indo-Pakistani war of 1947-1949. India received most of the disputed territory of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan was constantly looking for ways to take Kashmir for itself. A convenient opportunity presented itself after the Sino-Indian frontier war in 1962, when India engaged in a major rearmament of its army. During this period, the outnumbered Pakistani troops gained a qualitative advantage over the Indian troops, and the former decided to take advantage of this.

In December 1963, the disappearance of a sacred relic from the Hazratbal Mosque in Srinagar caused unrest among Muslims in the Kashmir Valley, which Pakistan regarded as the masses' readiness for revolution. The command of the Pakistani armed forces considered that covert operations, combined with the threat of war, would resolve the Kashmir conflict in favor of Pakistan.

The plan for the operation, called "Gibraltar", was prepared back in the 1950s, and now it was decided to put it into motion.

Operation Gibraltar was a covert operation by Pakistan in an attempt to spark an uprising in the Indian-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir. It served as a pretext for the second Indo-Pakistani war in 1965.

In late July - early August 1965, the Pakistani military, members of special forces groups, as well as irregular formations began to cross the line of control and infiltrate into the territory controlled by Indian troops. There they occupied the dominant heights and incited the population to revolt, which was supposed to be supported by Pakistani troops. In parallel with the agitation, the units that penetrated Indian territory also engaged in sabotage activities: they destroyed roads, bridges and tunnels, attacked warehouses, headquarters and airfields.

Despite the efforts of the Pakistanis, only four districts revolted. On the whole, the Kashmiri population proved to be uncooperative; on the contrary, people began to warn the Indian authorities about the upcoming actions and hand over the agitators. The Indian army immediately advanced to guard the border, which began to attack sabotage groups; most of the trespassers were taken prisoner. India accused Pakistan of sending in the militants, while the Pakistani government denied any involvement. However, it soon became clear that the detainees were Pakistanis, and some of them even turned out to be officers of the Pakistani armed forces; UN troops in Kashmir also confirmed the Pakistani intervention.

On August 15, 1965, after artillery preparation, the Indian army invaded Azad Kashmir to destroy the militant camps. The success encouraged the Indian troops as it fell on India's Independence Day. The fighting continued until the end of the month, until important areas through which the militants were supplied were transferred under Indian control.

To relieve pressure on the 12th division and protect Muzaffarabad from the Indian army, the Pakistani command launched Operation Grand Slam on September 1, 1965. However, India violated Paxitan's plans by deciding not to limit the conflict to the Kashmir region, but by starting hostilities in the Punjab. Thus began the second Indo-Pakistani war.

The Second Indo-Pakistani War is an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place in August - September 1965. Starting with an attempt by Pakistan to raise an uprising in the Indian part of the disputed state of Kashmir, the conflict soon took on the character of a border war between the two states. The fighting did not reveal a winner. The war ended in a draw after UN intervention.

In the spring of 1965, a border conflict broke out between India and Pakistan over the desert territory of the Great Rann of Kutch. Who provoked the conflict remains unclear, but in March-April 1965, armed clashes took place on the border between the border guards of both countries, the armed forces of both countries were put on full alert and pulled to the border. The conflict did not have time to flare up in full force: Great Britain intervened, through whose mediation the parties signed a ceasefire agreement on June 30, 1965. The dispute over the Rann of Kutch was completely settled on July 4, 1969, by the agreements concluded in Islamabad: Pakistan received 900 km² of territory, although it claimed a much larger area.

The events in the Rann of Kutch apparently convinced the Pakistani leadership of the superiority of the national army over the Indian one, and persuaded it to try to solve the Kashmir problem by force. Following the results of the first Indo-Pakistani war of 1947-1948. the state of Kashmir was divided into two parts, which went to the warring parties. Pakistan did not give up hope of establishing control over the Indian part of the state. The Pakistani secret services began sending trained saboteurs to Indian Kashmir, who were supposed to raise an uprising there in early August 1965 and launch a guerrilla war against the Indians. This operation, which was codenamed "Gibraltar", completely failed. The Indians became aware that the saboteurs were coming from the Pakistani part of the state, and on August 15, 1965, the Indian army invaded there to destroy the militant training camps.

The 12th Pakistani division, which was defending this area, could not hold back the offensive of the Indian corps, and very soon the threat of capture loomed over Muzaffarabad, the "capital" of Pakistani Kashmir. In order to ease enemy pressure on the 12th division, the Pakistani command on September 1, 1965 launched an offensive against the Indian part of Kashmir. Since then, there has been open warfare between India and Pakistan. India did not stop before the escalation of hostilities, taking them out of Kashmir for the first time on September 6, 1965, when the Indian army already invaded Pakistan. The blow was delivered in the direction of the large city of Lahore. The troops reached almost all the way to Lahore, after which they were driven back by a Pakistani counterattack.

Subsequently, both sides carried out offensives and counter-offensives several times in an attempt to achieve any major success. The pride of the Pakistani army, the 1st Armored Division, began to advance towards the Indian city of Amritsar, with the task of capturing it, but was ambushed near the village of Asal Uttar and suffered heavy losses in what is perhaps the most famous battle of the Indo-Pakistani wars. In turn, the Indians failed to break through the Pakistani defenses in the Sialkot direction, although in stubborn battles they nevertheless captured the settlement of Fillora.

The fighting in East Pakistan did not have a particular intensity, although the aircraft of the parties regularly bombed the places of deployment of troops and supply bases.

On September 22, 1965, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling on the warring parties to cease hostilities. On September 23, 1965, the war ended. With the mediation of the USSR, in January 1966, Pakistani President Ayub Khan and Indian Prime Minister Shastri signed the Tashkent Declaration, which summed up the war.

The Tashkent Declaration of 1966 is a diplomatic agreement signed on January 10, 1966 as a result of a meeting in Tashkent between President of Pakistan M. Ayub Khan and Prime Minister of India L. B. Shastri with the participation of Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A.N. Kosygin. The meeting was initiated by the USSR to normalize relations between India and Pakistan after the war between the two countries in 1965.

The declaration provided for measures to eliminate the consequences of the conflict, including the withdrawal of the armed forces of both countries to the positions they occupied before the outbreak of hostilities, the resumption of the normal activities of diplomatic missions, and discussion of measures to restore economic and trade ties between India and Pakistan.

The day after the signing of the declaration, Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri died in Tashkent.

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 ended without a convincing victory for either side. In both India and Pakistan, state propaganda reported the successful conclusion of the war. The month-long war claimed more than 5,000 lives, hundreds of tanks and dozens of aircraft were destroyed, although the casualty figures cited by official sources on both sides are completely at odds with each other.

In December 1971, the third, largest Indo-Pakistani war took place. The cause of the war was India's intervention in the civil war in East Pakistan.

The war ended with the surrender of Pakistani troops in East Pakistan, the separation of this province from Pakistan and the proclamation of the independent state of Bangladesh there. Fighting also took place in Kashmir, although neither side was able to achieve decisive success there. In the summer of 1972, in the city of Simla in India, the heads of both states signed an agreement that consolidated the result of the war and according to which the parties pledged to continue to resolve all disputes by peaceful means. Under the agreement, a Line of Control was established in Kashmir, almost coinciding with the 1949 Ceasefire Line. The Simla Agreement, however, is interpreted differently by each side.

The 1971 war was the largest in a series of Indo-Pakistani conflicts..

In the late 1980s, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir escalated greatly against the backdrop of a general socio-economic crisis. There, the activities of several terrorist organizations sharply intensified at once, demanding "the freedom of Indian-occupied Kashmir" under Islamic slogans. The Pakistani authorities began to supply the militants with weapons and provided them with training camps on their territory. The Afghan Mujahideen also took a significant part in the actions of terrorist groups in Jammu and Kashmir.

In addition, there were clashes between the regular troops of India and Pakistan on the Line of Control in 1984-1986. on the high mountain glacier Siachen near Chinese territory. The Line of Control does not pass through this glacier (according to the 1949 agreement, the Ceasefire Line was to be established “before the glaciers”), so it is actually a territory with an undetermined status.

Siachen conflict (April 13, 1984 - January 3, 1987) - an armed conflict between Pakistan and India over the disputed territory of the Siachen glacier. It ended with the victory of India over Pakistan and the transition of Siachen under Indian control.

By the beginning of 1984, Pakistan was preparing for a war with India over the territory of the Saltoro Range and the Siachen Glacier. However, India struck the first blow, launching Operation Meghdut in April 1984. A regiment of Indian soldiers was airlifted to Siachen, they seized control of two passes: Sia-la and Bilford-La, which opened access to the strategic Karakoram Highway. Pakistan tried in vain to reclaim these passes in late 1984 and 1985.

In 1986, the Pakistani army was again defeated in this sector of the front. Demonstrating military training and rock climbing skills, Bana Singh captured a Pakistani checkpoint at an altitude of 6400 m. This checkpoint was renamed "Bana", in honor of the courage of an Indian army officer.

Pakistan sent elite commandos in 1987 to drive Indian troops out of Bilford La. General Pervez Musharraf personally commanded this special force. In September 1987, a battle ensued in which India again defeated Pakistan. Although Pakistan failed in its attempt to capture Bilford-La, India never succeeded in capturing the strategic city of Khaplu, the capital of Pakistan's Ghanche district.

Pakistan currently maintains three battalions along the Siachen border, while India maintains seven battalions along this section of the border. The huge outflow of funds to maintain troops in this region forced India and Pakistan to open a dialogue for the peaceful disengagement of Siachen without territorial damage on both sides. But these negotiations ended in nothing, most of the Siachen glacier is controlled by the Indian authorities.

From 1987 to 2001 in Kashmir, there was practically no day without shelling the frontier posts of one side or another, often with the use of artillery.

In 1990, in connection with a sharp escalation of militant activity, direct presidential rule was introduced in Jammu and Kashmir, and Indian troops numbering up to 20 divisions were brought into the state.

In 1999, an unprecedented increase in tension in Kashmir began. Up to a thousand militants infiltrated from Pakistan crossed the Line of Control in five sectors. After pushing back the small garrisons of the Indian frontier posts, they established themselves on the Indian side of the Line of Control on a number of tactically important heights. They were covered by Pakistani artillery firing across the Line of Control. Thus began the Kargil War. This conflict ended with the victory of the Indians, by the end of July 1999 they managed to recapture almost all the territories captured by the militants in the first days of the fighting. Outcome: ceasefire, return to pre-war positions.

The Kargil War is a border armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place on May 3 - July 26, 1999.

At the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999, there was a marked thaw in relations between India and Pakistan. Several high-level meetings were held, in February Indian Prime Minister AB Vajpayee visited the Pakistani city of Lahore, where he opened a bus service between Lahore and Amritsar. The Lahore Declaration was signed to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons by these countries (both countries conducted nuclear tests in 1998). At the same time, the key problem of bilateral relations remained the issue of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, divided by the line of control after the war of 1947-1948. Partisans continued to operate in the Indian part of the state, seeking to separate it from India and join Pakistan. Artillery skirmishes between the two countries constantly took place on the line of control.

Not all representatives of the Pakistani military elite supported the policy of rapprochement between Pakistan and India. A plan was devised at the Pakistan Army General Staff to infiltrate the Indian part of the state and take up a number of positions in the mountains in Kargil Agency, likely to force the Indians to leave the Siachen Glacier to the east, the site of sporadic fighting between the two countries' border guards since the 1980s.

The conflict ended formally with the victory of the Indians, since they managed to recapture almost all the territories captured by the militants in the first days of the fighting.

The victory was won at the cost of an extremely high tension of the troops, creating a multiple numerical superiority, using heavy weapons - despite the fact that the militants were equipped only with light and small arms (Pakistani artillery, although it made itself felt, was still used quite narrowly).

The political consequences for Pakistan were very deplorable. The defeat affected the morale of the country's armed forces and generally damaged the reputation of the Pakistani military and government. The tense relations that developed after the war between Prime Minister N. Sharif and Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces P. Musharraf resulted in a coup and the removal of N. Sharif from the post of head of government. In Pakistan, again, after a 12-year break, the military came to power.

The conflict left behind a lot of unresolved issues, which led to another confrontation in 2001-2002.

The confrontation between India and Pakistan (December 13, 2001 - October 10, 2002) was the largest frontier military confrontation in the history of modern Indo-Pakistani relations. The reason for the start of the confrontation was the unresolved issues that the Kargil War of 1999 left behind. The result: the intervention of third-party states, the settlement of the conflict.

After the Kargil War of 1999, in 2001 there was an escalation of the conflict between India and Pakistan.

In May 2001, the head of Pakistan, P. Musharraf, in response to an invitation to visit India, agreed in principle to make such a visit. This high-level meeting ended inconclusively, as neither side was willing to move away from its long-known position on the Kashmir issue. Nevertheless, the very fact of the meeting was significant, since the parties recognized the opportunity to engage in dialogue with each other and showed a desire to resume the interrupted negotiation process.

However, after the meeting, exchanges of fire on the Line of Control between the regular units of both countries resumed, somewhat subsided after the end of the Kargil crisis. In October, several terrorist attacks took place in Kashmir, and after the attack on December 13, 2001 by a group of militants on the Indian Parliament building in Delhi (December 13, 2001, a group of five armed men entered the Indian Parliament building, killing seven people, which caused a new confrontation on the border) India, accusing Pakistan of aiding terrorists, began to transfer troops to the border with Pakistan and the Line of Control in Kashmir.

Throughout December 2001 and January 2002, both states again teetered on the brink of war. Both sides pulled up numerous army formations to the international border: as part of Operation Parakram (Power) India and as part of Operation Sangharsh (Fight) Pakistan, they concentrated 500,000 troops each.

Military exercises began, both sides teetered on the brink of war. Tensions peaked in May-June 2002. Three-quarters of India's ground forces and virtually all of Pakistan's ground forces were pulled up to the border. There is a real threat that the sides will use nuclear weapons. Any accident could provoke the start of a nuclear war between countries with a large number of victims. The parties were only able to calm down after international intervention: the US was negotiating with Pakistan, and Russia was negotiating with India. In fact, the confrontation between India and Pakistan ended on June 10, 2002.

In October 2002, the troops of both countries completely left the border zone.

The border between India and Pakistan is currently 2,912 kilometers long. The only settlement through which you can cross the border between the two states is the village of Vagah (the eastern part of the village is in India, the western part of the village is in Pakistan).

Wagah is located on the old great railway between the cities of Amritsar and Lahore. Wagah was crossed by the controversial Radcliffe Line in 1947. Part of the Indo-Pakistani border located at Wagah is often referred to as the "Berlin Wall of Asia". Here, every evening, a ceremony called "lowering the flags" takes place, the first of which was held in 1959. The border troops of India and Pakistan are responsible for maintaining order at the border.

There is also the "Line of Control" - the demarcation line between India and Pakistan, drawn through the former principality of Jammu and Kashmir - not legally recognized, but de facto a border. Originally called the "Line of Ceasefire", but was renamed the "Line of Control" after the agreement in Simla, July 3, 1972. The Indian part of the principality is known as Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani part of the principality is known as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. The northern point of the line is called NJ9842.

There is also the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which takes into account Chinese claims to Aksai Chin.

The Line of Actual Control is a demarcation line between India and China, which was not legally recognized for a long time, but is a de facto border. The line has a length of 4057 km and includes three sections: the western one (passes through the Ladakh region, considered by India as part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir); central (limits the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from the northeast); eastern (serves as the actual northern border of the states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh).

The term "line of actual control" was given legal recognition in the Sino-Indian agreements signed in 1993 and 1996. The 1996 agreement stated: "none of the states can take action to revise the line of actual control."

While the world is focused on North Korea's ballistic missile tests, another potential conflict is growing fearful. In July, 11 people were killed and 18 injured in skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops in Jammu and Kashmir, and 4,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

On Sunday, India's former Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaya Naidu, nominated by the National Democratic Alliance for the country's vice president, said Pakistan should remember how the clash ended in 1971, when Pakistan was defeated in the third Indo-Pakistani war, and Bangladesh gained independence.

Former Indian defense minister and opposition figure Mulayam Singh Yadav said last week that China is using Pakistan to attack the country and is preparing Pakistani nuclear warheads to attack India.

Warheads and Doctrines

This spring, The New York Times reported that India is considering changes to the interpretation of its nuclear doctrine, which prohibits the first use of nuclear weapons. Previously, India prescribed only a massive retaliatory strike, which involved strikes on enemy cities.

According to the paper, the new approach could involve preemptive limited nuclear strikes against Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in self-defense. So far, all this is rather speculation, since conclusions are drawn on the basis of an analysis of the statements of Indian high-ranking officials without any documentary evidence.

But even such assumptions, firstly, can push Pakistan to increase its nuclear capabilities and start a chain reaction of a nuclear arms race between the two countries, and secondly, can make Pakistan take any escalation of the conflict as an excuse for India to strike first.

Within days of The New York Times' publication, Pakistan accused India of accelerating its military nuclear program and preparing to produce 2,600 warheads. In its June report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) noted that India has added about 10 warheads to its arsenal over the year and is gradually expanding the infrastructure to develop its nuclear weapons.

Former Pakistani Brigadier General Feroz Khan, an expert on Pakistan's nuclear program, has previously stated that Pakistan has up to 120 nuclear warheads in stock.

Last week in Washington, the Pakistani expert also revealed that Islamabad's plans to use nuclear weapons are based on Cold War NATO doctrine of using tactical nuclear strikes against advancing enemy forces. To this, however, critics of Pakistan objected that Islamabad is using its nuclear status as a cover for waging a terrorist war in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

For India, the presence of Pakistani tactical nuclear weapons has become a problem. If Pakistan uses only tactical nuclear weapons and only on the battlefield, then India bombing Pakistani cities in response will look black. Hence the talk about changing the interpretation of the doctrine, when it is necessary to have time to eliminate the Pakistani arsenals before they are put into operation.

Another reason is Trump's rise to power in the United States. India believes that under the new American president, it has much more freedom in making decisions on the nuclear program. US relations with Pakistan under Trump are also on the decline: the Americans have ceased to consider Islamabad as a reliable ally in the fight against radicals in Afghanistan. This, of course, is encouraging for India.

The script that everyone fears

Growing tension in Hindustan could lead to catastrophic consequences. An escalation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir or a major terrorist attack in India, like the 2008 Mumbai attack, can serve as a trigger that will start a chain of events leading to a preventive nuclear strike from one side or the other.

The main problem, according to many analysts, is that no one knows what are the criteria for the use of nuclear weapons by Pakistan and what exactly it can perceive as the start of a war by India. The second problem is that the attacks in India may not be related to Pakistan at all, but it will be difficult to convince the Indian side of this.

In 2008, an American study was published on the consequences of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. The authors concluded that although the total charges of the two countries are not so large, their use will lead to a climate catastrophe, which will cause great agricultural problems and mass starvation. As a result, according to the report, about one billion people will die within ten years. So the seemingly distant problem of India and Pakistan actually concerns the whole world.

Relations between India and Pakistan - the two nuclear powers of South Asia - are straining due to unrest in the predominantly Muslim Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Indian Interior Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking at a parliamentary hearing, accused Islamabad of trying to destabilize and support terrorism in the border state. The Indian security official's statement came after Pakistani UN Ambassador Maliha Lodhi called on the UN Security Council to put pressure on the Indian government to "stop repression." A new escalation of the "oldest conflict on the UN agenda", in which over the past two weeks 45 people were killed and more than three thousand injured, began after Indian security forces liquidated an activist of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen group, which is seeking the separation of Kashmir from India.

Hearings on the Kashmir issue, held in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian Parliament), were held after the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army Dalbir Singh Suhag visited Jammu and Kashmir last week in connection with the escalation of tensions. Following the visit, he presented a report on the situation in the region to Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The latest high-profile incident in Jammu and Kashmir occurred in the city of Kazigund. Indian soldiers opened fire on the crowd, who were throwing stones at them, killing three people. In general, the number of victims of a new escalation in Jammu and Kashmir - the largest in the past six years, despite the curfew introduced in a number of districts of the state, over the past two weeks amounted to 45 people (more than 3 thousand were injured of varying severity).

The riots broke out after security forces killed 22-year-old Burhan Vani, one of the leaders of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen group, which is fighting to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India and is recognized as a terrorist group, during a special operation on July 8. Burhan Vani was killed in a shootout with Indian soldiers along with two other activists of the organization.

The Indian authorities are convinced that Islamabad is behind the aggravation of the situation in Kashmir. "Instead of solving its internal problems, Pakistan is trying to destabilize India," Indian Interior Minister Rajnath Singh warned at a parliamentary hearing, calling the neighboring state a "sponsor of terrorism." The Indian minister recalled that the Pakistani authorities called Burhan Wani a "martyr" and declared national mourning after his death.

The Indian Interior Minister's statement continued the war of words between the two nuclear-armed Asian powers and longtime antagonists, for whom a divided Kashmir has been a major bone of contention since their founding. This makes the Kashmir issue "the oldest conflict on the UN agenda."

Of the three Indo-Pakistani wars, Kashmir was the cause of two, in 1947 and 1965. The first war broke out immediately after the two countries gained independence as a result of the partition of British India into India and Pakistan. Then Pakistan managed to occupy a third of Kashmir. Another part - 38 thousand square meters. km of the Aksai-Chin mountainous region after the military invasion of 1962 was occupied by China. As a result, Kashmir was divided immediately between the three leading powers of Asia, and the Kashmir problem began to affect the interests of almost 3 billion people.

The statement of the Indian security official at a parliamentary hearing came after Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Maliha Lodhi called on the UN Security Council to put pressure on the Indian government to "stop the repression." And a few days earlier, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif added fuel to the diplomatic conflict by calling Burhan Wani "a soldier who fought for independence." At the same time, he promised that Islamabad would continue to provide all possible support to the associates of Burhan Vani.

With the latest escalation in Kashmir, Islamabad has become increasingly bellicose, with Prime Minister Sharif's critics accusing him of not being tough enough. Recall that after the new prime minister Narendra Modi came to power in India in May 2014, good personal relations were established between the two leaders. Mr. Modi made an unexpected gesture, inviting the head of a neighboring state to his inauguration. After that, there was talk in both capitals about an Indo-Pakistani reset. However, the recent events in Kashmir threaten to cross out the achievements of recent years and return the two nuclear states of South Asia to the era of the previous confrontation.

"Having called the normalization of relations with Pakistan one of his priorities and relying on personal contacts with Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Modi clearly underestimated the conflict potential of the Kashmir problem, which can escalate from time to time against the will of the leaders of the two states. Apparently, this is happening today ", - Tatyana Shaumyan, director of the Center for Indian Studies, explained to Kommersant. According to the expert, the return of this problem to the list of regional conflicts threatens the Asian region with a new destabilization with the participation of three states: India, Pakistan and China, which have not divided Kashmir among themselves.

The conflict between India and Pakistan is a protracted armed confrontation that has actually been going on since 1947, when these countries gained independence. During this time, there have already been three major wars and many minor conflicts. It has not yet been possible to reach an agreement, moreover, at the beginning of the 21st century, relations between these states only worsened.

The reasons

The main reason for the conflict between India and Pakistan is the dispute over the Kashmir region. This is an area located in the northwestern part of the Hindustan peninsula. Its division is not actually secured by any official agreements; it is a key hotbed of tension between the countries that occupy it.

Kashmir is currently divided into several parts. This is the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is home to about 10 million people, the self-proclaimed state of Azad Kashmir, which can be translated as "free Kashmir", it is home to about 3.5 million people, it is controlled by Pakistan. There are also northern territories of Gilgit-Baltistan under the control of Pakistan, where about 1 million more people live. A small area of Kashmir is within the borders of China.

As a result of the First Kashmir War, India gained control over two-thirds of the territory of the region, the rest passed to Pakistan. Because of this region, the tension between the countries still persists.

First Kashmir War

The conflict between India and Pakistan turned into armed clashes in 1947. After the countries gained independence, the region had to go to Pakistan, as it was dominated by Muslims. But in the leadership of Kashmir there were Hindus who decided to join India.

It all started with the fact that Pakistan declared the northern part of the principality its territory and sent troops there. The Pakistanis quickly defeated the militias. It was assumed that the troops would move towards the main city of Srinagar, but instead the army stopped in the captured settlements, proceeding to loot.

In response, Indian troops took up a circular defense around Srinagar, defeating the Muslim militia operating on the outskirts of the city. Stopping the persecution of the tribal forces, the Hindus tried to unblock the Kashmiri troops in the Poonch region. However, this failed, but the city of Kotli was occupied, but they could not hold it. In November 47, the Muslim militia captured Mipur.

After an attack by tribal troops, Janger was captured. The counteroffensive of the Hindus was called Operation Vijay. India made a new attempt to attack the Pakistani troops on May 1, 1948. They met fierce resistance from the Muslims near Janger, they were joined by Pakistani irregular detachments.

India continued to attack, launching Operation Gulab. Their targets were the Gurez and Keran valleys. At the same time, the besieged in Poonch broke through the blockade. But still, the Muslims were able to continue the blockade of this strategically important city. As part of Operation Bison, Indian light tanks were transferred to Zoji-La. On November 1, they made a sudden and swift offensive, forcing the Muslims to retreat first to Matayan and then to Dras.

Finally, it was possible to carry out the de-blockade of Punch. The city was liberated after a siege that lasted a whole year.

Outcome of the first war

The first stage of the Indo-Pakistani conflict ended with a truce. About 60% of the territory of Kashmir came under the patronage of India, control over the remaining areas was retained by Pakistan. This decision was enshrined in a UN resolution. Officially, the truce began to operate on January 1, 1949.

During the first conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indians lost 1,104 people killed and more than three thousand wounded. On the Pakistani side, 4,133 people were killed and more than 4,500 were injured.

Second Kashmir War

The established truce was broken in 1965. The armed conflict was short-lived, but bloody. It lasted from August to September.

It all started with an attempt by Pakistan to stage an uprising in the Indian part of Kashmir. Back in the spring of 1965, there was a border conflict. Who provoked him remains unknown. After several armed clashes, the combat units were brought to full readiness. Great Britain prevented the conflict from flaring up, which achieved an agreement on the As a result, Pakistan received a territory of 900 square kilometers, although it initially claimed a larger area.

These events convinced the Pakistani leadership of the significant superiority of their army. It soon tried to resolve the conflict by force. The secret services of the Muslim state sent saboteurs, whose goal was to launch a war in August 1965. The operation was codenamed "Gibraltar". The Indians became aware of the sabotage, the troops destroyed the camp where the militants were trained.

The onslaught of the Indians was so powerful that soon the largest city of the Pakistani part of Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, was under threat. On September 1, Pakistan launched a counteroffensive, from that moment an open war began. Five days later, the Indian army invaded Pakistan, striking at the large city of Lahore.

After that, both sides carried out offensives with varying degrees of success. In East Pakistan, the Indian Air Force carried out regular strikes. On September 23, the war ended under pressure from the UN.

Effects

With the participation of the USSR, the Tashkent Declaration on a ceasefire was signed. In both countries, state propaganda reported a convincing victory. In reality, it was actually a draw. The Pakistani and Indian air forces suffered significant losses, although there is no reliable information.

Some 3,000 Indians and 3,800 Pakistanis were killed in the fighting. NATO countries have imposed an arms embargo on these countries. As a result, Pakistan began to cooperate with China, and India was forced to establish close ties with the USSR.

Bangladesh War of Independence

A new round of the Indo-Pakistani conflict happened in 1971. This time the reason was the intervention of India in the civil war in the territory

The crisis was long overdue there, the inhabitants of the eastern part of the country constantly felt like second-class people, the language spoken in the west was recognized as the state language, after a powerful tropical cyclone that killed about 500,000 people, the central authorities began to be accused of inaction and ineffective assistance . In the east, they demanded the resignation of President Yahya Khan. At the end of 1970, the Freedom League party, which advocated the autonomy of eastern Pakistan, won the parliamentary elections.

According to the constitution, the Freedom League could form a government, but the leaders of western Pakistan were against the appointment of Rahman as prime minister. As a result, the latter announced the beginning of the struggle for the independence of eastern Pakistan. The army launched an operation to suppress the rebels, Rahman was arrested. After that, his brother read over the radio the text of the declaration of independence, proclaiming the creation of Bangladesh. The Civil War began.

Indian intervention

At first, she moved steadily forward. According to various estimates, from 300,000 to 1,000,000 inhabitants of the eastern part of the country were killed, about 8 million refugees went to India.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi supported the independence of Bangladesh, thus beginning a new round in the history of the conflict between India and Pakistan. The Indians began to support the guerrilla groups, and also carried out successful military operations, retreating across the border. On November 21, the Indian Air Force carried out strikes on targets in Pakistan. The regular troops moved in. After air raids on Indian bases, Gandhi officially announced the start of the war.

On all fronts, the superiority was on the side of the Indians.

Bangladesh gains independence

As a result of the intervention of the Indian army, Bangladesh gained independence. After the defeat in the war, Yahya Khanu retired.

Relations between the countries normalized after the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972. It was the largest conflict between these two countries. Pakistan lost 7,982 killed, Indians 1,047.

Current state

For Pakistan and India, Kashmir still remains a stumbling block. Since then, there have been two armed border conflicts (in 1984 and 1999), which were not of a large-scale nature.

In the 21st century, relations between India and Pakistan have escalated due to the fact that both states received from their patrons or developed nuclear weapons themselves.

Today, the United States and China are supplying arms to Pakistan, and Russia to India. Interestingly, at the same time, Pakistan is interested in military cooperation with the Russian Federation, while America is trying to take away contracts for the supply of weapons to India.