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Survivors of the deadliest attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir for years described how gunmen burst out of the forest to rake holidaymakers with automatic weapons.The attack killing 26 men has enraged India, with New Delhi accusing neighbouring Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism”.Pakistan denies responsibility.Eyewitness accounts and Indian media reports suggest it was a well-planned and targeted attack designed to send a brutal message to New Delhi.Holidaymakers escaping the sweltering heat of India’s lowland plains were enjoying the tranquil meadows of the Baisaran Valley on Tuesday.The popular site lies beneath snowcapped mountains near the town of Pahalgam.Gunmen stormed out of the pine forests, firing automatic weapons.Indian media reported that the gunmen wore body cameras to record their attack.The shooters — who Indian police identified as two Pakistani citizens and one Indian — separated men from women and children.A witness told AFP that they “very clearly spared women and kept shooting at men”. – ‘Go tell Modi’ -One woman said she had told the gunmen to kill her too, after they executed her husband in front of her.The woman, Pallavi, said that the men told her they left her alive to send a message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”Go tell Modi,” the gunmen said, Pallavi told the Economic Times.Some survivors said the attackers asked people’s religion, and demanded they recite the Islamic declaration of faith.The cousin of one of the men killed said he was asked by the attackers if he was Muslim before they shot him in the head, but spared his wife.”They pointed the gun…and said ‘tell your government what we have done,” Shubham Dwivedi’s cousin told India Today. Other survivors told broadcaster NDTV that if the emergency response had been quicker the lives of some of those shot but not killed outright might have been saved.Shital Kalathiya, whose husband was killed, said what happened “broke” her.”What shocked us the most was that there was not a single security person present,” she told the Hindustan Times newspaper.”If they knew that such risks were present at that place, they shouldn’t have let anyone go up there.”

The United Nations urged India and Pakistan to show “maximum restraint” as the nuclear-armed rivals imposed tit-for-tat diplomatic measures over a deadly shooting in Kashmir.Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.”We very much appeal to both the governments… to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we’ve seen do not deteriorate any further,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Thursday.”Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe, can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement”.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday vowed to hunt down the gunmen responsible for killing 26 civilians at the popular tourist site of Pahalgam, after Indian police identified two of the three fugitive gunmen as Pakistani.”I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” Modi said, in his first speech since Tuesday’s attack in the Himalayan region.”We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth.”Denying any involvement, Islamabad called attempts to link Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack “frivolous” and vowed to respond to any Indian action.”Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains,” a Pakistani statement said, after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a rare National Security Committee with top military chiefs.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since its independence in 1947, with both claiming the territory in full but governing separate portions of it.Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.India’s air force and navy both carried out military exercises Thursday.Indian police say the three gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation. They offered a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest.A day after the attack, New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties, and withdrew visas for Pakistanis.In response, Islamabad on Thursday ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, cancelling visas for Indian nationals — with the exception of Sikh pilgrims — and closing the main border crossing from its side.Pakistan also warned any attempt by India to stop the supply of water from the Indus River would be an “act of war.”- ‘Reduce it to dust’ -Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces.Experts say that a military response may still be in the pipeline, with some speculating that it may come within days while others say weeks. In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war. “Whatever little land these terrorists have, it’s time to reduce it to dust,” Modi said on Thursday, after holding two minutes of silence in memory of those killed, all but one of whom was Indian.India has taken its time to respond to past attacks.The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.Tuesday’s assault occurred as tourists enjoyed tranquil mountain views at the popular site at Pahalgam, when gunmen burst out of forests and raked crowds with automatic weapons.Survivors told Indian media the gunmen targeted men and spared those who could give the Islamic declaration of faith.Indian security forces have launched a vast manhunt for the attackers, with large numbers of people detained.The attack has enraged Hindu nationalist groups, and students from Kashmir at institutions across India have reported experiencing harassment and intimidation.burs-pjm/dhc

A decade has passed since a massive earthquake ripped through Nepal, but in Ram Bahadur Nakarmi’s home the damage is still visible — and so is the fear another might strike. Ten years ago, on April 25, 2015, the ground beneath Nepal shuddered with a magnitude-7.8 earthquake, killing nearly 9,000 people, injuring over 22,000, and leaving millions homeless.The disaster also reduced monuments to ruins, including centuries-old temples and royal palaces in the Kathmandu valley that attracted visitors from around the world.Nakarmi’s four-storey home in historic Bhaktapur city was damaged, but financial constraints made it impossible for him to rebuild.The 61-year-old continues to live in his house despite the cracks.  “Even now, it is still scary,” Nakarmi told AFP. “We are still feeling the tremors and they terrify us — we run outside the house”.The aftermath of the quake exposed deep cracks in Nepal’s disaster response system and the rebuilding efforts were initially hit by political infighting, bureaucracy and confusion.Yet over the last decade, significant progress have been made.According to official figures, nearly 90 percent of the homes destroyed have been rebuilt, alongside thousands of schools, health institutions, and public buildings.Temples and cultural landmarks are also slowly rising again.A joint assessment of affected districts by Nepal’s National Society for Earthquake Technology, and the international Global Quake Model showed marked improvements for resilience in the face of another quake. They estimated there had been a 44 percent reduction in the number of buildings at risk of complete collapse, after Nepal’s rebuilding and retrofitting drive. “Our initial years were focused on rebuilding. Now our focus should be in areas which were not affected in 2015 but are at risk of a quake,” Dinesh Prasad Bhatt chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), told AFP.”We have to extend the reach of lessons learnt from the earthquake to all parts of the country.”- ‘Inadequate progress’ – The disaster was a wake up call for a country that is situated on a dangerous geological faultline, where the Indian tectonic plate collides with the Eurasian plate to form the Himalayas.According to the UN, Nepal ranks 11th in terms of earthquake risk.Experts question if the country is prepared for the next one.In the decade since the quake, the country has taken important steps. The NDRRMA disaster reduction and management authority was established, and building codes were updated to reflect seismic safety standards. Unlike 2015, there are elected members at local levels responsible for mobilising rescue teams, volunteers and stockpiles of emergency resources in case of a disaster. “If you really look into a holistic picture, compared to what we had back in 2015 and right now, we’ve made massive progress,” said Anil Pokharel, a former NDRRMA chief.”But still, it is inadequate given the kind of growing risks.”Experts say that while Kathmandu’s skyline now includes more reinforced buildings, rural areas — where infrastructure is weaker and access to resources limited — remain exposed.Only 9.4 percent of structures were revealed to be safe in a 2023 integrity assessment of nearly 29,000 buildings of schools, health centres and government offices across the country by the NDRRMA.Implementation of disaster preparedness policies and building codes is also inconsistent. “Nepal has made many policies learning from the 2015 quake experience, but policies are only pieces of paper that dictate the system,” said Surya Narayan Shrestha, from the National Society for Earthquake Technology.”To make the system itself effective, we need people… and systems that have that capacity.” – ‘Dangerously underprepared’ -David Sislen, the World Bank chief Nepal, said that despite better policies and institutional framework, the country remains “dangerously underprepared for a major disaster”.”Without stronger enforcement and implementation of risk reduction and mitigation measures, the physical footprint of vulnerability will continue to grow, putting people, services and assets are risk,” Sislen said.He added that there was a need for “a phased financing strategy for retrofitting schools, hospitals, and other vital infrastructure”.Records at the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center show that over 800 earthquakes with a magnitude of four or above have struck Nepal since the 2015 quake.Every tremor takes Shri Krishna Chhusyabada, a quake survivor who lost three of his family members under the rubble of his house, back to the fateful day. “It was a black day for us. That day took away all our happiness,” Chhusyabada said. “I hope we never see such devastation again.”

India and Pakistan exchanged an escalating series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures on Thursday after New Delhi blamed its regional rival for backing a deadly shooting attack in contested Kashmir.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to hunt down the gunmen responsible for killing 26 civilians in the tourist spot of Pahalgam on Tuesday, accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism.””I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” Modi said in his first speech since the attack in the Himalayan region. “We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth.”Indian police have identified two of the three fugitive gunmen as Pakistani. The attack at Pahalgam is the deadliest attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir in a quarter of a century.New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties and withdrew visas for Pakistanis on Wednesday night.On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a rare meeting of the National Security Committee with top military officials, including powerful army chief Asim Munir.”Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains,” a Pakistani statement said. “In the absence of any credible investigation and verifiable evidence, attempts to link the Pahalgam attack with Pakistan are frivolous, devoid of rationality and defeat logic,” it said.- ‘Act of war’ -In response to India’s accusations and measures, Islamabad is expelling Indian diplomats and military advisers, cancelling visas for Indian nationals — with the exception of Sikh pilgrims — and closing the main border crossing from its side.Pakistan also warned any attempt by India to stop the supply of water from the Indus River would be an “act of war.”Some fear New Delhi’s diplomatic moves may just be an opening salvo — with the potential risk of military action between the nuclear-armed neighbors.India’s air force and navy both carried out military exercises Thursday, according to an official statement and the PTI news agency.A soldier was killed Thursday in clashes with gunmen at Basantgarh in Kashmir, the Indian army said.Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces. In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war. At the Attari-Wagah frontier, Pakistanis had already started to leave.”We just want to go home,” said an exhausted-looking Mehnaz Begum, a Pakistani national from Karachi. – ‘Reduce it to dust’ -Indian police say the three gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a United Nations-designated terrorist organization, and offered a two-million-rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest.Modi led two minutes of silence in memory of those killed, all but one of whom was Indian.”Whatever little land these terrorists have, it’s time to reduce it to dust,” he said.Indian security forces have detained many in their vast manhunt for the attackers.The US State Department repeated Thursday that Washington “stands with India,” echoing earlier comments from President Donald Trump.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since its independence in 1947, with both claiming the territory in full but governing separate portions of it.Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.- ‘Heartbroken’ -Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar appeared calm on Thursday, with residents expressing shock at the attack, which has hit the region’s key tourist industry hard, and fear of what is to come.”Everyone I have spoken to is heartbroken and shocked,” said Siddhi Wahid, a Kashmiri historian and political commentator.Tuesday’s assault occurred as tourists enjoyed tranquil mountain views at the popular site at Pahalgam, when gunmen burst out of forests and raked crowds with automatic weapons.Survivors told Indian media the gunmen targeted men and spared those who could give the Islamic declaration of faith.The attack has enraged Hindu nationalist groups, and students from Kashmir at institutions across India have reported experiencing harassment and intimidation.pzb-sai-pjm-ecl-ash-sct/aha/sla

Hundreds of Pakistanis joined protests across the country on Thursday, including in Kashmir, to rage against Indian threats after a deadly attack on tourists across the contested border.Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue and punish the gunmen responsible for killing 26 civilians in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam on Tuesday, accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism”.The attack in Indian-administered, Muslim-majority Kashmir was the deadliest for a quarter of a century and marked a dramatic shift with the targeting of civilians instead of Indian security forces.”If India wants to go to war, then come forward openly,” businessman Ajmal Baloch told AFP at a protest called by a religious party and attended by around 700 people Lahore, where the main border crossing with India is located. India has said it will suspend the Indus Water Treaty, which shares critical water between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, although it has no major means of restricting the river’s flow downstream to Pakistan.However, protesters including Baloch raged against the “unacceptable” threat.”Water is our right and, God willing, we will reclaim it, even if that means through war. We will not back down,” 25-year-old Muhammad Owais said.Around 300 people brandishing placards carrying anti-India slogans marched through the main city of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.”If India makes the mistake of attacking, the Pakistani Kashmiris will fight on the frontline, we’re ready to die for Pakistan,” said Shoukat Javed Mir, a senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party in the region.In Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, around 150 people staged a protest. 

Buddhists flocking to see a sacred tooth in Sri Lanka were urged by authorities to stay away on Thursday after four people died and hundreds fell sick while in lengthy queues.Regional police chief Lalith Pathinayake said queues in the city of Kandy were already 10 kilometres (six miles) long as Buddhists waited to worship what they believe to be a tooth of the Buddha — a special showing of the relic that will end on Sunday.Officials estimated there were around 450,000 people in queues on Thursday morning, more than double the expected daily number of 200,000.”At the rate the queue is moving, even those already in line this morning may not be able to enter the temple,” Deputy Inspector General Pathinayake said. “We appeal to the people not to come to Kandy.”The city’s main state-run hospital reported more than 300 people had been admitted after falling ill while spending days in cramped conditions. Four people, including an older woman, were pronounced dead on admission.More than 2,000 people who fainted while standing in line were treated at 11 mobile health units, local officials said.”We are trying to avoid a stampede,” said Sarath Abeykoon, the governor of the province. “Health authorities have raised concerns about sanitation.”The railway department said it was suspending all additional trains to the city because authorities were already overwhelmed by the number of pilgrims.Police commandos were deployed to move thousands of pilgrims away from an old bridge that officials warned could collapse due to the excessive weight on it. Police said 32 buses were turned away because the city had run out of parking space.The relic was last displayed publicly in March 2009, when an estimated one million people paid homage.Authorities had expected around two million visitors over the 10-day exhibition this time, but that figure was surpassed within five days.

India has hit Pakistan with a raft of mostly symbolic diplomatic measures after a deadly attack it blames on its arch-rival, but analysts warn a military response may yet come.New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties and withdrew visas for Pakistanis on Wednesday night, just over 24 hours after gunmen killed 26 men in Indian-administered Kashmir.And then on Thursday, New Delhi said it had suspended visas services “with immediate effect” and ordered all Pakistani nationals to leave the country, with the exception of remaining diplomats. Experts say that a military response may still be in the pipeline, with some speculating that a response may come within days while others say weeks.New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting “cross-border terrorism” — claims Pakistan denies — and police in Kashmir identified two Pakistani nationals among the three alleged gunmen.India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Thursday to punish all those responsible “to the ends of the Earth”.Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have sunk to their lowest level in years and some fear New Delhi’s diplomatic moves may just be an opening salvo.”This attack is going to take… relations a long way back to the dark days,” said International Crisis Group analyst Praveen Donthi.”Given the Narendra Modi government’s security approach, they might resort to kinetic (military) measures in the next couple of weeks, because they believe in projecting a strong security state.”Pakistan held a rare national security meeting on Thursday after New Delhi’s punitive diplomatic measures.- ‘Escalation’ -The killings have shocked India because they were a dramatic shift targeting civilians and the area’s vital tourism industry, rather than more common smaller-scale attacks against Indian security forces.Hindu pilgrims have been targeted in the past, but direct attacks on the tourist trade that underpins much of the local economy are much rarer.”A major attack in a tourist area does constitute a break from the past,” said Ajai Sahni, a counter-terrorism expert at the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management.Sahni suggested there had been “an unwritten contract” not to attack the general tourism trade “because virtually everyone” in Kashmir is directly or indirectly dependent on tourism.For New Delhi, the 3.5 million tourists who it says visited Kashmir in 2024  — mostly domestic visitors — illustrated what officials called “normalcy and peace” returning to the troubled region after a massive crackdown in 2019.”One of the reasons this attack might have happened is because the government started linking the numbers of tourists… to this narrative of normalcy,” Donthi said.”The militants finally changed their attack. Usually, they don’t attack tourists and civilians… And this is going to mark an escalation in the conflict.”The 2019 crackdown followed Modi’s decision to cancel Kashmir’s partial autonomy and impose direct control from New Delhi. US-based analyst Michael Kugelman said he believed the shift meant India would therefore also likely respond with military force.”I would argue that the combination of the scale of this attack as well as the targeting — the fact that civilians were hit — that suggests to me that there is a strong likelihood of some type of Indian military retaliation,” he said.”I don’t necessarily think that such a response would come quickly. I suspect that New Delhi will want to take some time, some days to review a range of possible retaliations.”- ‘Covert options available’ -India has taken its time to respond to past attacks.The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later, a raid that came against the backdrop of campaigning for India’s general elections.Action taken by India so far is limited. The now-suspended Indus Water Treaty shares critical water between the two countries — but is more a paper agreement and India has no major means of restricting flow downstream to Pakistan.The closure of the border crossing at the Attari-Wagah frontier is also significant, although there are rarely large numbers who cross.The border crossing hosts a hugely popular evening ritual, where crowds gather to cheer on soldiers as they goose-step in a chest-puffing theatrical show that has largely endured through innumerable diplomatic flare-ups.Sahni said any potential military response was “ill-advised”.”There have been military responses in the past,” he said.”They have been drummed up to have been these great successes. They had not achieved any significant outcomes — and there is a wide range of covert options available.”

Students from Indian-administered Kashmir have reported harassment and intimidation in India after a gruesome attack in the Himalayan region killed more than two dozen Indian men, a student association said on Thursday.Gunmen killed 26 men — all Indian except one Nepali — in the tourist hotpot of Pahalgam on Tuesday, the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested Muslim-majority territory since 2000.Survivors said the gunmen targeted men, sparing those who could give the Islamic declaration of faith, Indian media reported. The killings have shocked the world’s most populous country and enraged Hindu nationalist groups.Kashmiri students in states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were allegedly asked to leave their rented apartments or university hostels on Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir Students Association convenor Nasir Khuehami said. Students at a university in Himachal Pradesh were harassed and physically attacked after hostel doors were broken, Khuehami said. The students were allegedly called “terrorists”, he said.”This is not just a security issue,” he said. “It is a deliberate and targeted campaign of hate and vilification against students from a particular region and identity.”In Uttarakhand’s capital city Dehradun, around 20 students fled to the airport on Wednesday following warnings from Hindu Raksha Dal, a fringe right-wing group.The students said that the group threatened Kashmiri Muslim students with dire consequences if they did not leave town immediately.Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he was in touch with state governments where students reported feeling unsafe, asking them to “take extra care”.Kashmir’s former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also appealed to India’s Interior Minister Amit Shah to “intervene in the wake of certain elements openly threatening” traders and students. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the high-altitude territory in full but governing separate portions of it.Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian security forces have launched a vast manhunt in Kashmir for the attackers, with large numbers of people detained in the operation.India accused Islamabad on Wednesday of supporting “cross-border terrorism” and downgraded ties with its neighbour with a raft of diplomatic measures. Pakistan has denied any role in the Pahalgam attack.

India took a raft of punitive diplomatic measures against Pakistan on Wednesday, accusing Islamabad of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after a deadly attack on civilians in Kashmir.Pakistan has denied responsibility.But the attack plunged relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours to their lowest level in years, and some fear New Delhi’s diplomatic moves may just be an opening salvo — with the potential risk still of military action.India’s measures, including the suspension of a key water-sharing treaty and closure of the main land border crossingwith Pakistan, came a day after gunmen killed tourists in the Indian-administered part of disputed Kashmir.Islamabad will make “a tit-for-tat response”, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said.The gunmen killed 26 men — all Indian except one Nepali — in the deadliest attack on civilians in the Himalayan region for a quarter century.Funerals of several of those killed have been held across the country by grieving relatives, while candle-lit vigils have also been held by the wider public.The killings have shocked New Delhi, as they marked a dramatic shift towards targeting civilians and the area’s vital tourism industry, rather than smaller-scale attacks against Indian security forces, which are more common.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged that those responsible for the “heinous act” will be brought to justice.”Their evil agenda will never succeed,” Modi said shortly after the attack.- ‘Serious risk’ -Tuesday’s assault occurred as tourists enjoyed tranquil mountain views at the popular site at Pahalgam, when gunmen burst out of forests and raked crowds with automatic weapons.No group has claimed responsibility for the attack in the Muslim-majority region where rebels have waged an insurgency since 1989 — seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Wednesday read out a series of actions against Pakistan.They included the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 to share critical water from Himalayan tributaries “until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures (rejects) its support for cross-border terrorism”, Misri told reporters in New Delhi.They also included the shutting of the main land border crossing and diplomatic staff reductions, including withdrawing several Indian personnel from Islamabad and ordering Pakistanis home.Analyst Michael Kugelman said the attack posed a “very serious risk of a new crisis between India and Pakistan, and probably the most serious risk of a crisis since the brief military conflict that happened in 2019”.- ‘Heinous’ -India and Pakistan have long accused each other of backing forces to destabilise one another, and New Delhi says Islamabad backs the gunmen behind the insurgency. Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Wednesday offered its “condolences to the near ones of the deceased”.After India’s diplomatic measures, Pakistan said it would convene its National Security Committee, composed of senior civil and military officials and summoned only in exceptional circumstances.”A comprehensive response will be given,” Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said.Asif said that India wants to “use this incident, which we deplore, as an excuse” to exit the water accord.India is expected to hold an all-party political meeting on Thursday to brief top leaders.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory but fighting has eased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019, a move accompanied by a crackdown on dissent.The deadliest previous attack on civilians was in 2000 when 36 Indians were killed.The worst attack in recent years was in Pulwama in 2019 when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.

Nuclear-armed arch-rivals India and Pakistan have long accused each other of backing forces to destabilise them, especially in the contested Himalayan region of Kashmir that each controls parts of.New Delhi regularly blames Islamabad for backing gunmen in Kashmir, who have fought an insurgency against Indian forces since 1989.Islamabad denies it backs the insurgents, saying it only supports Muslim-majority Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.The killing of 26 people in Indian-run Kashmir on Tuesday signalled a dramatic escalation in violence — targeting civilians and the area’s vital tourism industry — and a shift from the common small-scale clashes between militants and security forces.India on Wednesday took a raft of diplomatic measures against Islamabad, including shutting its key land border crossing and suspending a water-sharing treaty.Pakistan then announced a meeting of its National Security Committee, summoned only in cases of external threat or major attack.Here are key events in their troubled relationship.- 1947: Partition and war -Two centuries of British rule end on August 15, 1947, with the sub-continent divided into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.The poorly prepared partition unleashes bloodshed that kills possibly more than a million people and displaces 15 million others.Kashmir’s monarch dithers on whether to submit to Indian or Pakistani rule.But, after the suppression of uprising against his rule, Pakistan-backed militants attack. He seeks India’s help — precipitating an all-out war between both countries. A UN-backed, 770-kilometre (478-mile) ceasefire line in January 1949 divides Kashmir, known as the Line of Control.- 1965-71: Kashmir and Bangladesh wars -Pakistan launches a second war in August 1965 when it invades Kashmir.The conflict ends seven weeks later after a ceasefire brokered by the Soviet Union with thousands of soldiers dead on each side.Pakistan deploys troops at the start of 1971 to suppress a growing independence movement in what is now Bangladesh, which it had governed since 1947.An estimated three million people are killed in the nine-month conflict and millions more flee into India.India invades Bangladesh, forcing Pakistan’s surrender in 1971.- 1989-90: Rebellion in Kashmir -An uprising breaks out in Kashmir in 1989 as longstanding grievances at Indian rule boil over.Hindus and other minorities flee the region over the following year after targeted assassinations, assaults, and threats by rebel fighters.Tens of thousands of soldiers, rebels and civilians are killed in the following decades in clashes between security forces and militants.India accuses Pakistan of funding the rebels and aiding their weapons training.- 1998-99: Nuclear weapons and Kargil conflict -Pakistan conducts its first public nuclear weapons tests in 1998, following India, which first conducted tests in 1974.Pakistan-backed militants cross into Indian-administered Kashmir in 1999, seizing military posts in the icy heights of the Kargil mountains. Raja Mohammad Zafarul Haq, a leading member of Pakistan’s ruling party, says his country will not refrain from using nuclear weapons to protect its security if necessary. Pakistan yields after severe pressure from Washington, alarmed by intelligence reports showing Islamabad had deployed part of its nuclear arsenal nearer to the conflict. Pakistan’s then prime minister Nawaz Sharif blames army chief Pervez Musharraf for igniting the conflict, which killed at least 1,000 people over 10 weeks, without his knowledge or approval. Musharraf overthrows Sharif in a coup months later.- 2008-Present: Mumbai attacks and Modi -Islamist gunmen attack the Indian financial hub of Mumbai in 2008, killing 166 people. India blames Pakistan’s intelligence service for the assault and suspends peace talks. Contacts resume in 2011, but the situation is marred by sporadic fighting.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes a surprise visit to Pakistan in 2015 but the diplomatic thaw is short-lived.A 2019 suicide attack kills 41 Indian paramilitary troops in Kashmir and prompts Modi to order airstrikes inside Pakistan.The resulting stand-off between the two nations is swiftly defused and Modi is re-elected months later, partly on a wave of nationalist fervour spurred by the military response.Later, Modi’s government cancels Kashmir’s partial autonomy, a sudden decision accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long communications blackout.In 2021, both nations reaffirm a 2003 ceasefire, but Pakistan insists that peace talks can resume only if India reinstates Kashmir’s pre-2019 autonomous status.