The Indo-Pakistan Wars

By StatelessCoyote
  • Period: to

    Indo-Pakistan Wars

  • Independence

    Great Britain had decided that they would not be able to keep their territories in present day India and Pakistan. The smaller areas were given the options of joining India, joining Pakistan, or becoming independent. Three of these states chose independence. One of these states was the Kashmir region. It turned out to be one of the most fought over areas in the war. Both India and Pakistan claimed that the Kashmir region belonged to them.

  • First Indo-Pakistani War

    In October 1947, the first conflict between India and Pakistan broke out. This began when Pakistan invaded Kashmir. The Maharaja then requested military aid from India. India agreed on the terms that Kashmir would accessed to India. India and Pakistan both agreed that this would be confirmed by a vote once the fighting stopped.

  • UN Calls for a ceasefire

    On January 1, 1949 the UN got involved in the war. They called for a cease fire between India and Pakistan. UN peacekeeper moved in to both nations to prevent further conflict. Some of the smaller nations had already confirmed their accession to India. The UN said that a referendum needed to be held to determine who which state belonged to. This referendum was never held though.

  • 2nd Indo-Pakistan War

    In August of 1965, fighting broke out again. Some argue that this started in April when border patrols between the two nations clashed. In August, Pakistan crossed the UN ceasefire line in Kashmir. India followed by retaliating in September. Again, the UN stepped in, 3 weeks later, another ceasefire line was put in to place. It wasn’t until 1966 that a treaty was signed to prevent future conflict.

  • East Pakistan Created

    In early to mid- 1971 a civil war broke out in Pakistan. The opposing sides were those of the East and the West. Millions of Pakistani citizens fled and most became refugees in India. India’s military got involved to support East Pakistan. After India intervened, the war was quickly settled. Then, on December 6th East pakistan was granted independence.