Geopolitics
Kashmir conflict explained: what took Pakistan and India to brink of war?
Pakistani forces shot down an Indian fighter jet in its airspace and has a pilot in its custody, while India says it too shot down a Pakistani fighter jet
It follows a suicide attack on Indian troops in February, which brought further pressure on Prime Minister Modi to retaliate
Kunal Purohit
Kunal Purohit
Updated: Thursday, 28 Feb, 2019 3:43pm
The Indian subcontinent is on the brink of a major military conflict, with India and Pakistan ratcheting up tensions by carrying out aerial strikes against each other.
On Tuesday, Pakistani forces shot down an Indian fighter jet in its airspace and has held the pilot in its custody. India, meanwhile, also claimed to have shot down a Pakistani fighter jet in its airspace, drawing a denial by Pakistan.
All this comes just a day after India launched air strikes in Pakistan’s Balakot, targeting a militant training camp run by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). It marked the first time since a 1971 war that Indian warplanes had crossed the disputed region and struck inside Pakistan. Amid all the allegations and counter-allegations, here’s all you need to know about the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan.
What triggered this fresh wave of conflict?
Relations between the two countries hit a low point earlier this month, after a suicide attack by a JeM militant killed 44 Indian troops on the Indian side of Kashmir, the biggest-ever such attack on Indian military forces. It marked the deadliest attack in the divided region’s volatile history, with the last major incident in Kashmir being in 2016 when JeM militants raided an Indian army camp, killing 20 soldiers.
The Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for the attack, which triggered an outpouring of anger on the streets of India and calls to “avenge” the bombing. Kashmiri people outside the state reported being mobbed for being sympathetic towards the militancy.
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