History of Indo Pak War

History of Indo Pak War

The Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have fought numerous armed conflicts with each other since their creation following the end of the British Raj and the subsequent partition of India in August 1947. The two South Asian nations have been involved in three major wars, one undeclared war and numerous border skirmishes and military standoffs. Additionally, the two countries have also accused each other of engaging in proxy wars by providing military and financial assistance to violent non-state actors.
The Kashmir dispute has been the root cause of all major conflicts between the two countries with the exception of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, where the dispute concerned the erstwhile East Pakistan.

The Wars in chronological order

• Indo-Pakistan War of 1947: This is also called the First Kashmir War. The war started in October 1947 when the Maharajah of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu was pressured to accede to either of the newly independent states of Pakistan or India. Tribal forces prompted by Pakistan attacked and occupied the princely state, forcing the Maharajah to sign the "Agreement to the accession of the princely state to India". The United Nations was then invited by India to mediate the quarrel. The UN mission insisted that the opinion of the Kashmiris must be ascertained. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 47 on 21 April 1948. The war ended in December 1948 with the Line of Control dividing Kashmir into territories administered by Pakistan (northern and western areas) and India (southern, central and northeastern areas).
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• Indo-Pakistan War of 1965: This war started following of Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against rule by India. India retaliated by launching an attack on Pakistan. The five-week war caused thousands of casualties on both sides and was witness to the largest tank battle in military history since World War II. It ended in a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration.
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• Indo-Pakistan War of 1971: The war was unique in that it did not involve the issue of Kashmir, but was rather precipitated by the crisis brewing in erstwhile East Pakistan. Following Operation Searchlight and the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities, about 10 million Bengalis in East Pakistan took refuge in neighboring India.Because of the impending humanitarian crisis , India intervened in the ongoing Bangladesh liberation movement. After a failed pre-emptive strike by Pakistan, full-scale hostilities between the two countries commenced. Within two weeks of intense fighting, Pakistani forces surrendered to India following which the People's Republic of Bangladesh was created. This war saw the highest number of casualties in any of the India-Pakistan conflicts, as well as the largest number of prisoners of war since the Second World War after the surrender of nearly 90,000 Pakistani police and civilians.
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• Indo-Pakistani War of 1999: Commonly known as Kargil War, this conflict between the two countries was mostly limited. Pakistani troops along with Kashmiri insurgents infiltrated across the Line of Control (LoC) and occupied Indian territory mostly in the Kargil district. Pakistani government believed that its nuclear weapons would deter a full-scale escalation in conflict but India launched a major military campaign to flush out the infiltrators.Due to Indian military advances and increasing foreign diplomatic pressure, Pakistan was forced to withdraw its forces back across the LoC.

Other conflicts

Apart from the aforementioned wars, there have been skirmishes between the two nations from time to time. Some have bordered on all-out war, while others were limited in scope. The countries were expected to fight each other in 1955 after warlike posturing on both sides, but full-scale war did not break out.

• Siachen Conflict: In 1984, India launched Operation Meghdoot capturing most of the Siachen Glacier. Further clashes erupted in the glacial area in 1985, 1987 and 1995 as Pakistan sought without success to oust India from its stronghold.

• Kashmir insurgency: Between November 1986 and March 1987, India conducted Operation Brasstacks. This military exercise – the largest of its kind in South Asia – was feared could lead to another war between the two neighbours. Tensions were high again in 1990 after militancy in Indian-administered Kashmir greatly increased. A terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001, which India blamed on the Pakistan-based terrorist organizations Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, prompted the 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff and brought both sides close to war.