India / Pakistan

Recent events in the border region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan have brought long-running anxiety about the potential for conflict back into sharp focus. Almost twenty years ago, then-United States President Bill Clinton observed that the “most dangerous place in the world today…is the Indian subcontinent and the Line of Control in Kashmir.” While Indian and Pakistani leaders protested this characterization then, the fact was that the dispute over Kashmir was the only place in the world where an active armed conflict existed between two nuclear powers. This remains true.

The sparring between India and Pakistan last month threatened to spiral out of control and only interventions by U.S. officials, including National Security Advisor John Bolton, headed off a bigger conflict, five sources familiar with the events said.

Residents near the disputed boundary in divided Kashmir region said Sunday it was quiet overnight, their first lull since a dangerous escalation between Pakistan and India erupted last week bringing the two nuclear-armed rivals close to full-out war.

Al Jazeera explains the major groups that are involved in the armed movement for Kashmiri self-determination.

Pakistan says it has shot down two Indian military jets and captured a pilot in a major escalation between the nuclear powers over Kashmir. … The aerial attacks across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Indian and Pakistani territory are the first since a war in 1971. They follow a militant attack in Kashmir which killed at least 40 Indian troops - the deadliest to take place during a three-decade insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir.

India says Pakistan should “stop misleading the international community” and take action against the perpetrators of a deadly militant attack in Indian Kashmir, while Islamabad warns it will swiftly retaliate if New Delhi launches any military action. Tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals have escalated since a suicide bombing last week against Indian military forces in disputed Kashmir killed 40 paramilitary personnel.