India and Pakistan are two countries in the continent of Asia, which have been at war four times in their sixty years of Independence. The main cause of the conflict has been the Kashmir region with the only exception of the war of 1971, where the conflict zone was East Pakistan.

The first War was in 1947, then in 1965, 1971 and the last one in 1999. The conflict between India and Pakistan has always been over the valley of Kashmir. Discussions over the status of Kashmir continued between the two countries following the partition in 1947, which did not have a satisfactory finishing. At that time a Hindu ruler Hari Singh administered Kashmir, which had been one of the five hundred and sixty two princely states in the British Indian empire. However, with the invasion by Pakistani tribals Hari Singh ceded his territory to India. This was not agreed by Pakistan and the First war broke out between the two countries. The war continued for one year where both nations made significant advances into each other`s territory. The war ended after a UN ceasefire.

The Second War in 1965 began with Pakistani infiltration, which had a serious outburst in Jammu and Kashmir. This ignited a war between India and Pakistan.

The Third war in 1971 between the two countries did not involve the status of Kashmir. It involved Indian military intervention in a civil war in Pakistan. The Eastern province of Pakistan was speaking the language of secessionism. India intervened and this took the shape of a war between India and Pakistan, which resulted in the creation of a sovereign nation of Bangladesh. This war, which lasted for only a fortnight, saw the highest number of casualties that had ever occurred in an Indo- Pak war.

The most recent war between India and Pakistan was the Kargil War in 1999, which is often considered a small conflict because fighting was limited to a single front in Kashmir. It was the first war after the two powers had become nuclear powers.

The status of Kashmir still remains undecided and is a matter of concern in the foreign relations between the two countries as well as in international politics.