Timeline of Indo-Pak armed conflicts since 1947
The history of Indo-Pak millitary confrontations dates back to the 1947 war following India's independence and the partition of the sub-continent, extending up to India's 2019 Balakot surgical strike in retaliation for the Pulwama suicide bombing.
New Delhi: Indian armed forces launched missile strikes on nine terrorist locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including Bahawalpur, known as a key stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group.
These strikes, code-named ‘Operation Sindoor’, carried out in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, marks yet another chapter in the long-standing military tensions between India and Pakistan.
The history of Indo-Pak millitary confrontations dates back to the 1947 war following India’s independence and the partition of the sub-continent, extending up to India’s 2019 Balakot surgical strike in retaliation for the Pulwama suicide bombing.
1947 (first Indo-Pak War): The war, also known as the First Kashmir War, broke out over the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir between the newly independent nations India and Pakistan. It began in October 1947 when Pakistan-backed tribal militias invaded the princely state. In response, post the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian Union by Maharaja Hari Singh, India sent its troops to defend the region, leading to full-scale conflict between the two nations.
The conflict continued until January 1949, when a UN-mediated ceasefire was implemented, resulting in the division of Kashmir between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC).
1965 (second Indo-Pak War): The armed conflict broke out on August 5, 1965 over Kashmir. It was triggered when thousands of Pakistani soldiers, disguised as local insurgents, infiltrated the Indian territory across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.
The covert operation, known as ‘Operation Gibraltar’, aimed to destabilise the region and provoke local uprisings. India responded by launching a military counter-offensive, which escalated into a full-scale combat along the international border. The war continued until September 23, 1965, when both sides agreed to a ceasefire, brokered by the Soviet Union and the United States.
1971 (Bangladesh Liberation War): The 1971 Indo-Pak War was triggered by Pakistani military’s crackdown on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and its demand for independence. India entered the war in support of the Bangladeshi independence movement, and after intense fight on both the eastern and western fronts, Pakistan’s forces surrendered on December 16, 1971.
The war led to the creation of Bangladesh as an independent nation.
1999 (Kargil War): The 1999 Kargil War was a high-altitude conflict between India and Pakistan, fought from May to July after Pakistani troops and terrorists occupied peaks in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir. India launched ‘Operation Vijay’ to reclaim the territory, supported by the Air Force’s ‘Operation Safed Sagar’. The war ended on July 26 with India regaining control, a day now marked as ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’.
2016 (Uri Attack): Following the terrorist attack on an Indian Army base in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, on September 18, 2016, which killed 19 soldiers, India conducted a surgical strike on September 28–29 across the LoC. The Indian Army targeted multiple terrorist launch pads in PoK, claiming significant casualties among terrorists preparing to infiltrate.
2019 (Pulwama attack): On February 26, 2019, the Indian Air Force carried out airstrikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, in response to the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel. Using fighter jets, India targeted the camp deep inside Pakistani territory, marking the first such airstrike since the 1971 war.
