When former gained independence and was divided into India and Pakistan in 1947, Muslim-majority Kashmir was free to choose which new country to join, or to remain independent.
The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, a Hindu ruler of a Muslim-majority state, initially wanted independence but ultimately chose to accede to India after a Pakistani-backed tribal invasion.
A war erupted and India asked the United Nations to intervene. The UN recommended that they hold a referendum on whether the state would join India or Pakistan. However, neither country could agree on a deal to demilitarize the region ahead of such a vote.
In July 1949, as recommended by the UN, India and Pakistan agreed on a ceasefire line which eventually became the so-called following an agreement signed in 1972.
The region became divided into India-administered Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir plus Gilgit-Baltistan. Adding to the complexity, China also controls a portion (Aksai Chin).
Both India and Pakistan still claim full sovereignty over the region.
There have been sporadic conflicts between the two sides over the contested region since then, interspersed with periods of de-escalation.
But the election of the to power in India in 2014 marked a new period of tension. The BJP government responded to a major attack in 2019 by launching cross-border air strikes. Later that year, it revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy, sparking increased protest within the region that was met with repression.
This was followed by a period of relative calm in which Delhi promoted a nascent tourist sector in the region that began to boom until the attack against tourists near the hotspot of Pahalgam on April 22, 2025.
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