Wars and peace with Pakistan

India and Pakistan have quarrelled since birth, above all over Kashmir (from 1947). India took the dispute to the United Nations.

Yet they also cooperated: they returned women abducted during Partition, and in 1960 signed the Indus Waters Treaty, with the World Bank's help, to share the rivers of the Indus system. It has survived every war.

1965 war: Pakistan attacked first in the Rann of Kutch (Gujarat) and then in Kashmir. India hit back with a counter-offensive on the Punjab border. The war ended with the Tashkent Agreement (January 1966), signed by Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistan's General Ayub Khan, with the Soviet Union's help.

1971 war:

• In 1970, Sheikh Mujib's Awami League won Pakistan's election, but the rulers in West Pakistan refused to hand over power. The army unleashed terror in East Pakistan.
• About 80 lakh refugees fled into India, a huge burden.
• India signed a 20-year Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Soviet Union in August 1971, securing support.
• War came in December 1971. Within days, about 90,000 Pakistani troops surrendered, and Bangladesh was born.

The war ended so decisively because of careful diplomacy (the Soviet treaty), military preparation, and the support of East Pakistan's own people.

The Shimla Agreement of 1972, signed by Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, set the terms for peace and said disputes would be settled bilaterally.

Kargil, 1999: Pakistani forces occupied heights on India's side of the Line of Control. India fought back, keeping the conflict confined to the area, and recovered most of the lost points.