KASHMIR ISSUE

Since the independence of India and Pakistan from Britain in 1947, the issue of Kashmir had become and continued to remain a root cause of strained relations between the two neighbouring countries.

The British left without resolving the issue and the years that followed witnessed three wars between the two nations, hampering their progress towards addressing serious problems like poverty, unemployment and overall economic development.

The disputed territory remained mired in clashes, leaving the Kashmiris craving for their right to self-determination.

Several rounds of bilateral and trilateral negotiations in the past years failed to bring about a resolution to the long-standing issue that would be acceptable to all stakeholders.

All these years of conflict and pain has but made all the stakeholders realize that peace cannot stem from a battleground and that a peaceful dialogue is the only way forward to achieving a durable peace that is a key to sustainable development and prosperity in the region inhabited by a population of over a billion.

1947 - Britain divides its Indian empire into secular but mainly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, triggering one of the greatest and bloodiest migrations of modern history.

1947/48 - India and Pakistan go to war over Kashmir. The war ends with a U.N.-ordered ceasefire and resolution seeking a plebiscite for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide whether to become part of India or Pakistan.

1965 - India and Pakistan fight their second war over Kashmir. Fighting ends after United Nations calls for ceasefire.

1971 - Pakistan and India go to war a third time, this time over East Pakistan, which becomes independent Bangladesh.

1972 - Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi sign agreement in Indian town of Simla to lay principles meant to govern relations.

1974 - India detonates its first nuclear device.

1989 - Separatist revolt starts in Indian Kashmir. India accuses Pakistan of arming and sending Islamist militants into Indian Kashmir, which Pakistan denies.

1998 - India carries out nuclear tests. Pakistan carries out its own tests in response.

Feb. 1999 - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee holds summit with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.

1999 - India and Pakistan fight a brief but intense conflict in the mountains above Kargil on the Line of Control, the ceasefire line dividing the former kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir.

July 2000 - Summit between Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharraf and Vajpayee in Agra in India ends in failure.

Dec. 2001 - Militants attack Indian parliament. India blames Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatist groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. Close to a million men are mobilised on either side of the border; war only averted months later in June 2002.

2003 - Pakistan and India agree a ceasefire on the Line of Control.

2004 - The two countries launch a formal peace process.

July 2008 - India blames Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency for a bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Nov. 2008 - Ten gunmen launch multiple attacks in Mumbai, killing 166 people. India blames Pakistan-based militants and breaks off talks with Pakistan.

Feb. 2009 - India cautiously welcomes Pakistan's investigation into the Mumbai attack. The day before, Pakistan admitted for the first time, that the attack was launched and partly planned from Pakistan.

March 2009 - India's home minister says Pakistan is threatening to become a failed state and it was not clear who was in control of the country.

May 2009 - India's new coalition government says it is up to Pakistan to take the first step towards better ties by cracking down on militants on its soil.

June 2009 - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Russia. Singh tells Zardari he wants him to ensure militants can not operate from Pakistan. (Compiled by Zeeshan Haider; Additional writing and editing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)