Written by: Dhiya Farras Suryakusuma Staff of Research and Development

India and Pakistan are two neighboring countries that – put simply, don’t get along with each other – because of ongoing territorial disputes. Both countries place claims on a territory named Kashmir, resulting in constant tensions. A recent attack on Indian-administered Kashmir has caused an escalation in the India-Pakistan conflict. India accused Pakistan of perpetrating the attack. On the other hand, Pakistan firmly denied the accusation.

Image 1. Indian army patrol after Kashmir attack.
Source: Dar Yasin, Aljazeera

An Overview of the India-Pakistan Conflict

The conflict between India and Pakistan began in 1947, specifically when Britain tried to decolonize India by dividing it based on its two major religions. This caused India to split into two different countries, where the region with a Hindu majority inherited the name India, while the region with a Muslim majority went on with a different name: Pakistan. Yet, a region that has no clarity of ownership remains – Kashmir. This is because Kashmir used to be a Hindunese kingdom – or more precisely, princely state, back in pre-colonial India – yet the majority of its people are muslims. A dispute began when the kingdom wanted to join India as a Hindunese state, while on the other hand, its people wanted to join Pakistan. This has caused both India and Pakistan each to believe that they are the rightful state to claim Kashmir.

Kashmir Under Attack, Conflict Escalates

The tensions between India and Pakistan rapidly increased because of a recent attack on Pahalgam, Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, 2025. This attack killed 26 civilians, which were mostly Indian tourists, and injured 17 others, causing India to accuse Pakistan as the main culprit. Pakistan, on the other hand, firmly denied the accusation and, otherwise, stated that it will help find the real culprit. Yet, Pakistan’s statement did not make the situation any better. On the contrary, Pakistan’s statement caused India to develop a plan to retreat from some of its treaties. The same thing has also been done by Pakistan. These tit-for-tat moves by both parties have caused tensions between these two countries to escalate rapidly.

This escalation almost reached its peak on May 7, 2025 because of India’s missile attack on Pakistan. This attack killed around 31 people and injured plenty of others. India’s alibi is that it only attacked the terrorists’ hiding place in Pakistan, which attacked Pahalgam a few weeks before. Moreover, because of the Hindutva ideology that aims to create an ethnoreligious Hindunese state, the existence of Pakistan as an Islamic country is perceived as a threat for India. Yet, Pakistan denied that the places attacked by India were terrorist hideouts. Pakistan also highlighted that out of the nine places India had struck, six were civilian areas. 

The sudden missile attack from India caused Pakistan to see red. Pakistan viewed the sudden strike from India as an “act of war” and shot down Indian air force jets as a response. This action only increased tensions between India and Pakistan, as well as the possibility of an actual war breaking out. Although both parties have begun discussions regarding a possible ceasefire, this instability still concerns international society as there still remains a high possibility of war.

Lesson Learned for International Society

The escalating conflict between India and Pakistan has become a growing concern—not only for the countries surrounding them, but the whole world. One of the reasons why is that both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons. Though nuclear weapons are generally used for deterrence only, when a conflict reaches its tipping point, they may be utilized as a last resort. While many strategists believe that the India-Pakistan conflict may not expand outside of its borders precisely because of the concept of nuclear deterrence, recent events show that there may be a possibility of conflict escalation and, perhaps, total war.

Moreover, with both parties not knowing the exact information about each other’s nuclear arsenal, a nuclear strike should be calculated appropriately to avoid any miscalculations. Add to that the internationally common concern over India and Pakistan’s possession of nuclear weapons when both are not parties to the 1967 Non-Proliferation Treaty. For anti-proliferationists, the grave impact of nuclear weapons, such as radiation, due to its wide and inevitable range as demonstrated by what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is sufficient proof that India and Pakistan should not even begin to consider the usage of nuclear weapons.

The usage of nuclear weapons in the conflict would bring destructive impacts that harm not only India and Pakistan, but other countries as well. Even some countries such as the United States, a frequent mediator of the India-Pakistan conflict, demanded that India and Pakistan de-escalate the conflict before a total war occurs. At the same time, the United States also released a statement regarding the India-Pakistan conflict. The United States has promised not to interfere physically; so far, it has only been engaging in diplomatic methods to reconcile both parties. This is because interfering may violate India and Pakistan’s sovereignty. Therefore, perhaps now there is nothing much to do but hope that the conflict between India and Pakistan will de-escalate.

Conclusion

India and Pakistan’s conflict over Kashmir is not a recent problem, but has been ongoing since dozens of years ago, specifically since 1947, when Britain tried to decolonize India by dividing it into two states. Kashmir, which became a “no man’s land” not long after, fell prey to both parties, each claiming it to be their rightful territory. The conflict became more complicated due to the recent attack on Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, killing 26 civilians, mostly from India. This attack caused India to accuse and carry out a retaliatory attack on Pakistan a few weeks after – which was, once again, retaliated by Pakistan. The fact that both parties have nuclear weapons also added to the conflict’s intricacy. Although conversations about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan have commenced, international society still befriends the particular fear of the possibility of a nuclear war.

References

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Al Jazeera. (2025, April 23). “Act of war”: What happened in Kashmir attack that killed 26 tourists? Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/23/act-of-war-what-happened-in-kashmir-attack-that-killed-26-tourists

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