As peace returns on the borders of the two rival countries — India and Pakistan — here are key dates in the troubled history of the two nations.
1947: End of British rule and partition of the sub-continent into mainly Hindu India and the Muslim-majority state of Pakistan. Partition triggers widespread religious bloodshed in which hundreds of thousands are killed and millions displaced.
1947-49: The two new states go to war over the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir, which is also partitioned, along a de facto border that neither accepts to this day.
1965: A new war over Kashmir ends inconclusively.
1971: The two countries go to war over East Pakistan, which secedes to form the new nation of Bangladesh.
1974: India explodes first nuclear device in an underground test.
1987: Pakistan’s Ziaul Haq launches “cricket diplomacy” by watching a cricket Test match between India and Pakistan with then Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi.
— Muslim separatist groups begin anti-India campaign in Indian Kashmir.
1992: Destruction of a mosque in India strains relations further.
1993: Serial blasts in Mumbai kill around 250. India blames Pakistan for harboring the key suspect.
1998: Both countries carry out tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests, raising tension across the world.
1999: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee holds summit with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.
— Indian troops fight a brief but bloody conflict with Pakistan-backed forces in the mountains of Kargil in Indian-held Kashmir.
2001: Vajpayee holds a summit with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Agra, which ends in failure because of differences over Kashmir.
— India blames Pakistan-based militants for an attack on the Parliament in New Delhi that leaves 15 people dead.
2003: Both countries agree a cease-fire on the Line of Control in Kashmir, improving relations.
2004: The two countries launch a formal peace process to address a broad range of bilateral issues.
— India tour Pakistan for a full Test series for the first time since 1989.
2005: Pakistan tour India.
2006: India tour Pakistan.
— Serial blasts in Mumbai suburban trains kill 174. India blames Pakistan-based militants.
2008: Gunmen attack the Indian city of Mumbai, killing 166 people. India blames Pakistan-based militants for the assault and suspends the peace dialogue.
2011: India and Pakistan agree to restart their peace talks to resolve all outstanding issues, including the vexed subject of Kashmir.
June 2012: India’s says a key suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks provided information confirming Pakistani “state support” for the deadly assault.
November 2012: India executes sole surviving gunman from the Mumbai attacks, Pakistani-born Mohammed Ajmal Kasab.
May 2014: India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi invites his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to his inauguration.
India and Pakistan diplomacy timeline
India and Pakistan diplomacy timeline
Zelensky blasts EU's lack of political will against Putin
- Ukrainian president says he reached agreement with Trump around post-war US security guarantees for his country
- In a fiery speech, he slammed his main political backers in Europe over their 'inaction'
DAVOS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday blasted the EU’s lack of “political will” in countering Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in a fiery address criticizing some of Kyiv’s top allies at the World Economic Forum.
The speech to the Davos elite came minutes after Zelensky had met with US President Donald Trump, a conversation he said had brought agreement about what post-war US security guarantees for Ukraine would look like.
Zelensky did not say what they included, only that they were “done” and were ready to be signed by the leaders and ratified by the Ukrainian parliament and US Congress.
But in a marked departure from his usual warm rhetoric toward the European Union, Kyiv’s main political and financial backers, Zelensky slammed what he cast as inaction.
“What’s missing: time or political will?” he said at one point, referencing delays over the establishment of a European war crimes tribunal on the Russian invasion.
He also said Europe, without mentioning any single country, was failing to agree on how to address global problems.
“There are endless internal arguments and things left unsaid that stop Europe from uniting and speaking honestly enough to find real solutions,” Zelensky told the forum.
“Instead of becoming a truly global power, Europe remains a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers,” he added.
Fresh talks
“Europe looks lost trying to convince the US President to change,” said Zelensky.
“But he will not change. President Trump loves who he is, and he says he loves Europe, but he will not listen to this kind of Europe,” he said.
Trump had hailed a “good” meeting with Zelensky in the Swiss ski resort, hours before his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were due in Moscow for talks with Putin.
“This war has to end,” Trump told reporters including AFP when asked what message he was sending to the Russian leader.
Zelensky said the question of territory was the one outstanding issue in the talks to find an end to the war.
“It’s all about the eastern part of our country. It’s all about the land. This is the issue which we (have) not solved yet.”
He also said the United Arab Emirates would host “trilateral” talks on the Ukraine war Friday and Saturday with Ukrainian, US and Russian negotiators.
“It will be the first trilateral meeting in the Emirates,” said Zelensky, without elaborating on the format of the talks.
“Russians have to be ready for compromises,” he added.
Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of the country’s eastern Donbas region as part of a deal — but Kyiv has warned ceding ground will embolden Moscow.
