Pakistan War History

Since independence from British India in 1947, Pakistan has experienced multiple interstate and intrastate conflicts including three wars with India over the territory of Kashmir. Pakistan is currently embroiled in a number of conflicts on several fronts. This summary outlines security challenges in Pakistan beginning with a brief history of conflicts since independence.

Indo-Pakistan War of 1947

Pakistan became an independent state in 1947 when the colony of British India was partitioned into one predominantly Muslim state consisting of two geographically separate regions - East and West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh) and one predominantly Hindu state (present-day India). Partition caused massive refugee flows and intensified communal Muslim-Hindu violence. It also gave rise to the ongoing territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and China over control of the Kashmir region. The border territories have endured armed clashes in at least six different periods ranging from a few weeks to several years.

The interstate conflict over the territory of Kashmir broke out for the first time in 1947 when both India and Pakistan laid claim to the area. In January 1948 the United Nations (UN) Security Council adopted Resolution 39 (1948) establishing the UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate facts and mediate the dispute in Kashmir. The Security Council enlarged the membership of UNCIP through Resolution 47 (1948) and recommended various measures including the use of observers to help restore peace. The first team of unarmed military observers deployed to the region in January 1949. The Karachi Agreement of 27 July 1949 established a ceasefire between India and Pakistan and tasked UNCIP with supervision along the ceasefire line. Since 1951, the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan has monitored the Line of Control (LOC).

Indo-Pakistan War of 1965

In Operation Gibraltar, Pakistani volunteers infiltrated the Kashmir valley anticipating the provocation of a Kashmiri insurgency. Fighting lasted for five weeks and the war ended on 23 September 1965 after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire brokered by world powers and implemented through UN Security Council Resolution 211 (1965). The ceasefire did not hold and India and Pakistan negotiated the Tashkent Declaration on 10 January 1966 whereby they agreed to a number of terms, including a return to pre-conflict positions on their respective sides of the Line of Control (LOC).

Bangladesh War for Independence and Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

The Bangladesh War for Independence began following the 1970 Pakistani election and eventually resulted in the secession of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Events related to this conflict also led to a war with India in 1971.

Pakistan held elections in 1970 under the authority of the Legal Framework Order, aiming to create a representative form of government following a year of martial law, with a new constitution to follow. The Awami League (AL) won an absolute majority, winning all its seats in East Pakistan. The Pakistan People’s Party, based in West Pakistan and led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, came in second, dominating in the west. The AL electoral victory promised it control of the government. However, party leader Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was not granted the premiership by the president and power-sharing negotiations ensued. Rehman suggested he become prime minister of East Pakistan while Bhutto be made prime minister of West Pakistan, supporting the party’s platform of decentralized government and increased provincial autonomy.

In March 1971 the AL launched a campaign of civil disobedience, immobilizing the east. In response, army units directed by West Pakistan launched a military operation in East Pakistan that was followed swiftly by a declaration of independence by Bengali nationalists and civil war.

Bengalis formed a paramilitary force—Mukti Bahini (Liberation Army)—to fight against the West Pakistan army. India provided refuge to nearly 10 million East Pakistanis displaced by the conflict and provided economic and military support to the Mukti Bahini forces. On 23 November 1971, Indian troops entered East Pakistan, and West Pakistan responded by declaring war on 3 December. The allied forces of the Indian army and the Mukti Bahini defeated the West Pakistan forces deployed in the East on 16 December 1971. Following Pakistan’s surrender, East Pakistan seceded and the state of Bangladesh was born.

1999 Kargil Conflict

From May to July 1999, Pakistan and India were involved in the Kargil Conflict, an armed conflict between the two countries in the Kargil district of Kashmir.

The incursion into Kashmir was planned and executed during General Pervez Musharraf's tenure as the Pakistan army’s chief of staff under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Indian army, later supported by the Indian air force, recaptured a majority of positions on the Indian side of the LOC, which had been infiltrated by Pakistani troops and militants. Facing international diplomatic opposition, Pakistan’s forces withdrew from their remaining positions on the Indian side of the LOC.

The Kargil conflict derailed the Sharif government’s peace initiative with India, which had begun in February 1999.The most recent episode of conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir ended in 2003 through a ceasefire but the issue has not been resolved. The countries are currently in a stand off despite the resumption of peace talks in 2010.

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