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The region of Kashmir remains a key issue of contention between India and Pakistan [Reuters]
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1947 - India gains independence from British rule, and Muslim-majority areas are partitioned to form separate state of Pakistan, triggering bloody riots between Muslims and Hindus as large groups of people migrate from either country.
1947-48 - India and Pakistan go to war over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. The Line of Control at ceasefire becomes the de-facto border between the parts of Jammu and Kashmir the two countries now administer.
1965 - India and Pakistan fight their second war over Kashmir.
1971 - A third war erupts between Pakistan and India, this time over East Pakistan, which becomes the independent Bangladesh.
1972 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Pakistani prime minister, and his Indian counterpart, Indira Gandhi, sign an agreement in the Indian town of Simla setting principles to govern relations.
1974 - India detonates its first nuclear device.
1989 - Separatist revolt begins in Indian Kashmir. India accuses Pakistan of arming and sending fighters into Indian Kashmir.
1998 - India carries out nuclear tests and Pakistan carries out its own tests in response.
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| India halted talks with Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai attacks [EPA] |
February 1999 - Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Indian prime minister, holds a summit with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.
1999 - India and Pakistan fight a brief battle in the mountains above Kargil on the Line of Control in Kashmir.
July 2001 - A summit between General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, and Vajpayee, India's prime minister, in Agra in India ends in failure.
December 2001 - India's parliament is attacked and New Delhi blames Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatist groups. Nearly one million troops are mobilised on either side of the border.
2003 - Pakistan and India agree to a ceasefire along the Line of Control in Kashmir.
2004 - The two countries launch a formal peace process with talks to include the issue of Kashmir as well as water disputes.
July 2008 - India blames Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency for a deadly bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.
November 2008 - Armed men launch multiple attacks in the Indian commercial capital of Mumbai, killing 166 people. India blames Pakistan-based fighters for the attacks and halts talks with Pakistan.
February 2009 - India cautiously welcomes Pakistan's investigation into the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan admits for the first time that the attack was launched and partly planned from inside Pakistan.
May 2009 - India's new coalition government says it is up to Pakistan to take the first step towards better ties by cracking down on fighters on its soil.
June 2009 - Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, and Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president, meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Russia. Singh tells Zardari he wants him to ensure armed groups can not operate from Pakistan.
July 2009 - India and Pakistan agree to work together to fight "terrorism" and order their top diplomats to meet as often as needed. But India's Singh, after talks with his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani in Egypt, rules out a resumption of formal peace talks.
August 2009 - India gives Pakistan new evidence to investigate the Mumbai attacks.
February 2010 - India offers new talks with Pakistan at the top diplomatic level.
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