ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief history of the Kashmir dispute, the central reason for conflict between India and Pakistan. It highlights the causes and consequences of the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971. The latter war led to the creation of the independent nation of Bangladesh. The chapter focuses on the history of terrorism, insurgency and limited conflict between 1987, when the first bullet was fired in the name of the insurgency in the Kashmir Valley in India, and 2003, when an official ceasefire was announced between India and Pakistan. It looks at the counter-insurgency efforts exercised by the Indian army that in turn have led to further anger on the streets of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The chapter also outlines the more recent history of relations since gunmen launched a series of co-ordinated attacks in Mumbai in 2008 while highlighting how the turmoil in a different arena in Afghanistan is yet another complication to reckon with.
